Lou: I nearly waltzed out of Strictly
Star rattled by gorgeous confident’ rivals
STRICTLY star Louise Redknapp nearly quit the show before it began as her female competitors looked too hot.
Yet the 42-year-old mum of two is one of just five stars left in the BBC dance contest.
And last night in Musicals Week she performed a quickstep with partner Kevin Clifton, 34.
The ex-singer with girlband Eternal is a contender to lift the coveted glitterball, a far cry from when she attended the first group rehearsal.
Louise said: “That first day they were all just so gorgeous and confident and they had their dresses on and they were all tight and short and I just remember thinking I can’t do this, I c a n’ t go through with this, I can’t compete with these girls. I don’t want to. But you very quickly learn that you’re all in the same boat and you all have the same insecurities and nerves.”
Louise had lost confidence after putting motherhood over her career to raise her sons, Charley, 12, and Beau, eight. She said: “Twenty years ago this would have been right in my comfort zone.
Selfish
“When I was 23-24, oh yeah, I would have been embracing it wholeheartedly. But as a 42-year-old with two children who has been a mum for quite a few years, it’s easy to forget how it feels to be on stage and have the confidence to do it.” The only other woman left in the competition is 20-yearold Olympic gymnast Claudia Fragapane. Louise said: “I was saying to Jamie [her husband]: ‘ I’m 22 years older than Claudia. That is scary. She could be my little gi r l ! ’ ” But Louise admits being “a bit selfish” for a few months and doing something for herself has been a pleasure.
And she has also not ruled out having another baby, saying: “A girl would be nice.”
And she joked it could be on the cards as Kevin’s last two dance partners have gone on to have babies shortly after the show. She said: “He’s the fertility king.”
Meanwhile she and former footballer Jamie, 43, do not want to put pressure on their boys to follow in their dad’s footsteps. She said: “I feel sorry for Charley,ey, whenever he walks on a football ootball pitch everyone’s l i ke, ‘ That’s Redknapp’s boy’.oy’. ”
She also admitted, mitted, in the wake of the child hild sex abuse scandal rockingng football, they have always ys been protective parents. .
“Jamie knows ws exactly where my kids should and shouldn’t be in football, he’s never ever not with them,” m,” she said.