Louise Redknapp talks ahead of Birmingham gig

And now Louise – formerly Louise Redknapp – is looking back across her 25-year career after taking to the road for a UK tour. She’ll headline Birmingham’s O2 Institute on Monday, with support from Jerry Williams.

Louise enjoyed a run of success both as a solo artist and as part of Eternal and she will be performing her finest work, with a slew of hits.

She says: “I went into the studio to rework some of my original tracks. I can’t wait to be back on stage performing all of the hits and my favourite covers.”

Louise recently split from hubbie Jamie after saying she needed to rediscover herself and devote more time to her career. Her new intimate tour is a whistle-stop tour of the UK, with dates in Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and London.

And she’s been preparing for the shows by having hot chocolate with her dogs, dinner with Judge Rinder and hanging out with her friend, Emma Thatcher – as well as enjoying a New Year Party at G-A-Y, where her setlist feature Naked, 2 Faced, Just A Step From Heaven/Don’t Mess With My Man, Pandora’s Kiss and Let’s Go Round Again.

Louise has been trolled by some fans for leading a party lifestyle, following her divorce. She had constantly been out on the town with her Strictly friend Daisy Lowe.

Some fans have hit out on Twitter, saying: “So Louise has had six presenting jobs, a lingerie range, is the face of four products and released two documentaries oh and Strictly and the tour and multiple adverts in last 10 years . . . not bad for a stepford wife #TeamJamie.”

Another Tweeted: “The only unreasonable person in the relationship @LouiseRedknapp was you, there is nothing reasonable in dumping your husband and kids for your own career.”

Louise, however, has lifted the lid on her marriage and given a range of interviews in which she’s said she was desperate to resume her career because she felt buried by her marriage.

In one interview, she said: “I feel like I’m coming back to who I really am.

“I have spent most of my life pleasing everyone else, worrying about being judged and thinking I should always do the right thing by staying at home, looking after my kids and my husband. I lost myself.” Cracks started to appear in Louise’s marriage after she developed a friendship with Daisy Lowe that boosted her confidence. She decided to relaunch her pop career and go on a UK tour. She also gave interviews confirming her split from Jamie. She said: “I think that it’s been so heavily documented and, of course, we all go through hard times and my priority and his priority is our children and protecting them and keeping as much private as possible and loving them and putting them first. That’s really what we’re focusing on.

“I think that it’s been so heavily documented and of course we all go through hard times and my priority and his priority is our children and protecting them and keeping as much private as possible and loving them and putting them first. That’s really what we’re focusing on.”

Prior to her marriage to footballer Jamie Redknapp, Louise enjoyed a hugely successful career with Eternal, the quadruple-platinum-selling girl group who broke through with Always and Forever.

She then went onto enjoy a string of platinum albums, selling more than five million records in the UK, and 15 million records worldwide.

She presented several TV shows and was a judge on the UK version of So You Think You Can Dance before reaching the final in the 14th series of BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing.

She had been discovered at the age of 16 while out clubbing when she met the music producer Denis Ingoldsby, who was forming an all-girl group. Louise subsequently introduced Denis to Kéllé Bryan, who formed Eternal with sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett. They enjoyed a huge wave of success during the 1990s after their debut single Stay entered the UK charts at number four and their debut album Always and Forever became the first album by a female group to achieve more than a million sales in the UK.