After 19 years together, it looks like Louise and Jamie Redknapp are calling it a day

It’s all over for the first couple of football

Despite many believing they had one of the strongest marriages in showbiz (and 19 years is no mean feat for normals, either), Louise and Jamie Redknapp have both confirmed to friends: “It’s over”.

As heat revealed last month, the couple have been spending more and more time apart, and leading increasingly separate lives. And we’re told it was Louise who was behind the decision to split, as she reassessed her life after taking part in Strictly Come Dancing last year.

“Louise has had a new lease of life since reaching the finals of Strictly and doing the tour, and it changed her relationship with Jamie,” heat’s source explains. “For years, it had always been about Jamie’s career, and Louise was happy to stay home and look after the kids [sons Charley, 12, and Beau, eight], but she got a new-found confidence and wanted to start making the most of opportunities that came her way, as well as going out more. It caused problems between her and Jamie, because she realised she wanted more out of life.”

Louise, 42, is said to have moved out of the family home in Surrey to a nearby property she owns, and last week cut a holiday in Majorca with her sons short after news of their split broke. Our source has said that while Jamie,

who’s 44, is keen to save the marriage, what happens next is up to Louise.

“Jamie still loves her and is willing to do whatever it takes to make it work,” heat’s insider adds. “He hopes a break is what they need, but Louise is a different person to this time last year. While she adores her family and wished she could make it work, she can’t go back to how things were. She made some great new friends on Strictly, including Daisy Lowe, who’s been her rock over the last few months, and also showed her how to have fun again and have a life outside being a mum and wife.”

Reports have claimed that their close friendship played a role in the split, and our insider says they’ve become inseparable, adding that Daisy even let Louise stay at her house as her marriage troubles worsened. Louise is now set to embark on a three-month UK tour with the musical Cabaret, starting in September, as she makes the most of another opportunity that’s come her way since Strictly.

“Louise feels lucky to have been offered a role like this, and she wants to reward everyone’s faith in her,” our insider says. “It may not be perfect timing, with what’s going on at the moment, but it’s a distraction she’ll welcome while she works out what to do next.”