Louise Redknapp admits she regrets taking part in Strictly Come Dancing for this sad reason

Louise Redknapp has admitted she regrets taking part in Strictly Come Dancing for this sad reason.

Louise Redkanpp has revealed her personal regret over taking part in BBC's Strictly Come Dancing as she admits it wasn't worth putting her family through the heartache.

The singer-turned Strictly Come Dancing 2016 winner has opened up on her regret over competing in the celebrity dance show - four years after lifting the prestigious glitterball trophy.

Now Louise, 46, has admitted in her tell-all autobiography You've Got This that she regrets ever entering the TV competition and confessed it wasn't "worth the heartache". She wrote, 'If I’d done the show four years earlier, this wouldn’t have happened. I wouldn’t have walked away from my marriage. It simply wasn’t worth putting anyone I loved or love through the heartache.'

Louise, who was married to former footballer Jamie Redknapp has two sons, Charley, 16, and Beau, 12, but she left her 20-year marriage after taking part in the show, with her splitting from her husband the following year. At the time Louise claimed 'I became a sort of Stepford wife - I lost myself'  as she looked to pursue a career for herself.

Louise, who was partnered with professional dancer Kevin Clifton, admitted the show did help give her a "new path" which led to more career opportunities but still had a regret.

She explained, 'I still wish I’d done things differently because I feel like I hurt a lot of people and I’ll always be sorry for that. I felt like certain people had my back, and, in hindsight this wasn’t really the case. I was so scared about going back to normal life and losing what I’d achieved on the show.'

Louise went on to star in Cabaret and 9 to 5 the Musical on London's West End after her Strictly win and aside from launching her own homeware range with George at Asda, she also released her first solo album in two decades Heavy Love and had a tour planned just before the Coronavirus pandemic hit last March.