Walking down the street just a few feet away from each other, the sight of Louise Redknapp and the new man in her life brought a smile to many a face.
Finally, there was happiness for the woman who had suffered so much heartbreak when she split from former footballer husband Jamie after 19 years together. And Louise cannot help but have a smile on her face too when the subject of businessman Drew Michael, 39, comes up, although she remains coy about their romance.
“It’s so difficult with your personal life... it’s all good,” she smiles. When we catch up on the 30th anniversary of her 1990s girl band Eternal’s first single Stay, it is a few hours since she was spotted leaving The Groucho Club in Soho, Central London, with Drew on Monday.
And it seems she is keeping her cards close to her chest for now. “Yeah, I’ve got nothing else to say on it, everything about it has already been written,” Louise, 48, adds.
There have been plenty of eyes on Louise’s love life since her split from Jamie six years ago. And although she has been open to the idea of meeting someone, the singer and West End star has wanted life to stay consistent for the sake of her two teenage sons: Charley, who is 19 and attending college in the US, and Beau, 15.
Louise Redknapp shows off trim figure and abs in a crop top in pilates class
Louise and Drew Michael (Bob Grey / BACKGRID)
Louise and Jamie split after 19 years together (Getty Images Europe)Since their divorce in 2017, Jamie, 50, has remarried and had a baby with model Frida Andersson, 38, while Louise maintained staying single would be best for their boys. “I’ve felt this as a mum and, to say this in the most sort of respectful way, my boys’ lives changed dramatically and then it changed again when obviously Jamie got married and had a family,” she said earlier this year. "Their life changed and I felt like I needed to be their one staple.”
It is a mantra that has carried her through the wrench of Charley leaving the UK for a new life Stateside, where he plays rugby for the University of Arizona. Since her eldest son flew the nest last year, Louise has been learning to cope with the lack of noise and mess – and the emptiness of having one fewer adult around the house. It's why she's teamed up with Three UK and its charity partner Samaritans, which are helping to support parents whose grown-up children are starting university this autumn.
Before he left she was worried about “crying 10 times a day” and threw herself into making sure he had some semblance of how to look after himself at college. “I remember packing Chaz so many pairs of socks and pants, because I just thought, there’s one thing he’s got to have: clean socks,” she laughs. “I was filling up the entire suitcase with loads of them.”
Since he has been away, Louise has had more than her fair share of long-distance calls asking how to separate whites and coloured washing, how to cook and how often he should change his bedding. “He’d never put the washing machine on in his life once,” she says, shaking her head at the memory. “It was all brand new to him.”
To stay connected, Louise speaks to Chaz every day, even if it is just for 10 seconds to check he is all right - something she advises other mums and dads to try as part of the Three UK and Samaritans campaign. “Some of my friends will do one really long chat a week with their kids, but I like to ring him every day, usually around 7am our time when he’s about to go to bed and I’m doing the school run with Beau,” she says.
“Sometimes we’re on the phone for five, 10 seconds – ‘You, OK?’ ‘Yeah, everything’s all right’. ‘School, OK?’ ‘Yeah, all good. All right, Mum, gotta go’. But that reassures my mind, and he expects that call. I always had one rule with the kids: always pick up your phone. Just let me know you’re OK. Be in touch, that’s all I want.”
With Beau, left, and Charley (Instagram)Louise and Beau have a guilty secret to remember Charley by: they both raid his wardrobe to find his best hoodies to wear. “We’ll often come down the stairs in the morning and both of us are wearing one,” she grins sheepishly. “It’s quite nice, I still get to wash his clothes, and when we’re wearing them we still have his presence around the house.
“It’s so hot in Arizona he didn’t bother packing any of his hoodies, so we get to steal them instead.” Now, in his second year, Charley has settled in well – and, most importantly, has learned how to use the washing machine. “He comes back quite a lot and I get to go over there,” says Louise.
“I’m definitely going to go out before Christmas and then he’ll be back here for Christmas; in American unis they get really long holidays, so I’m fortunate he always comes home. It’s always hard when he leaves again but we stay in touch by sending each other little pictures. Sometimes it’s easier than sending long messages.
“So instead I’ll ping him pictures of our bulldog doing something funny, or if I’ve cooked something I know he likes I’ll snap a photo of it, and he’ll send me one of him turning up to rugby. We both love memes so if I see one I know he’ll laugh at, I’ll send it over. It only takes a split second but you constantly feel like you’re engaging with them every day.”
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And just as younger brothers are prone to do, Beau stakes his claim on Charley’s room at every opportunity. "I’ve kept Charley’s room just as he has it, because he’s home a lot,” Louise says. “Sometimes Beau moves into it, he’s like, ‘I’m gonna go down Charley’s room’ if he has his friends round.
“I just think, ‘Oh, God, if Charley could see them all in his room now he would not be happy’.” Away from her boys – and her new man – Louise is throwing herself back into work. After her successful stint on 2017’s Strictly Come Dancing, in which she was paired with Kevin Clifton, she made her West End debut as Violet Newstead in Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 The Musical.
She followed it up with the role of the singing Teen Angel in Grease this year. “I’d love to do more West End,” Louise admits. “I love being in it. It’s something I’ve grown more and more passionate about, so another show next year would be great.” She would also be open to more TV work, having surprised audiences with her Masked Singer appearance in 2021 and on the BBC ’s I Can See Your Voice.
“I feel like I haven’t done TV for quite a long time, so it would be nice to do a bit more of it,” says Louise. “I love the look of Celebrity Race Across The World, and anything Joanna Lumley presents where she gets to travel through all the different countries.” Louise, who sang at Brighton & Hove Pride last month, is back in the studio writing and recording new music – no doubt inspired by the new chapter of her life. “I’ve had a great year,” she smiles contentedly. “I ended the year before doing a straight play, which was a lovely experience, so it’s just about knuckling down and doing more of the same, career-wise.”
*Louise Redknapp speaking on behalf of Three UK and charity partner Samaritans, discussing the support on offer for parents as their children leave for university. For more information, visit FRESH STARTS at University here: https://www.three.co.uk/social-commitment/community
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