Louise Redknapp has revealed she begged her agent to pull her out of Strictly Come Dancing as she discussed her difficulties behind the scenes.

The singer, 50, was a celebrity contestant on the 2016 iseries where she and dance partner Kevin Clifton finished as runners up to winner Ore Oduba.

But the compeтιтion wasn’t plain sailing for Louise who experienced a crisis of confidence after taking a break from show business before the series.

Speaking on the Spooning with Mark Wogan podcast, she said: ‘I realised having the kids and being away from the industry really had taken away my jazz hands and disappeared. I was like ‘where are they?” 

‘I think [I had] muscle memory for dance, but not muscle memory for being in the limelight. I think that part had gone. 

‘The fear had come in and I think when I was younger, I was completely fearless. I gave everything a go.’

Louise Redknapp has revealed she begged her agent to pull her out of Strictly Come Dancing as she discussed her difficulties behind the scenes

The singer, 50, was a celebrity contestant on the 2016 series where she and dance partner Kevin Clifton finished as runners up to winner Ore Oduba

Louise admitted she was put off after seeing some of the other female contestants who she thought seemed much more confident than her.

She said: ‘That element of confidence and fearlessness – that had gone. Walking down that opening show and seeing, like, some of the other females in the show and they had their little dresses on and they were so confident. 

‘I was looking at the other girls and they were shaking their bums and I literally came off the first show, rung my agent and went ‘You’ve got to get me out of here. This week you can pretend I’ve broken an ankle.’

Louise, who was once crowned Sєxiest Woman of the 90s by FHM, felt like anything but when it came time to step onto the dancefloor.

She said: ‘Week one comes, I’m at the top of the stairs, all the other girls have got a sparkly little outfit on, little knickers, high heels. 

‘I have got white jazz shoes and a sailors outfit in red. I was thinking ‘I am definitely not the Sєxiest woman of the decade anymore in this’.’

Louise and her ex-husband Jamie Redknapp split up the year after the compeтιтion after nearly twenty years of marriage.

Looking back on the public scrutiny she faced, Louise said: ‘I think for me, the lowest, pretty much a person could get to, just horrendous. 

Louise admitted she was put off after seeing some of the other female contestants who she thought seemed much more confident than her

‘I was looking at the other girls and they were shaking their bums and I literally came off the first show, rung my agent and went ‘You’ve got to get me out of here”

‘I could never see a way out from how bad and low I felt at the time. If I didn’t have my kids, I think I would’ve just given up, like I really do. I think I just knew that my kids were my everything and they needed me.’

Louise shares two children with the former footballer – Charles, 20, and Beau, 16 – who they have been co-parenting successfully since 2017.

The singer admitted on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast that the public scrutiny of her marriage breakdown made the situation even harder to deal with. 

She said: ‘But I can honestly say, when you’re going through something so personal in your own turmoil in your own way, but then to get the barrage of judgment and nastiness.

‘I never realised people could be so unkind and say such terrible things. I blew my mind.’ 

Louise and her ex-husband Jamie Redknapp split up the year after the compeтιтion after nearly twenty years of marriage (pictured in 2016)

‘I was going through a lot as it was, I was trying to be strong for my kids, whatever had gone on in our life was private – which I do believe that you’re enтιтled to no matter what.

‘And God, I was such a villain, and I was breaking like I was absolutely breaking.

‘Beyond what I thought it was possible for a human to break and all along I’m still trying to be a mum.

‘And it was just like every time I went out, and I was trying to put a brave face on and do things, like that was wrong if I didn’t. I felt like everything I did was so wrong.’

Louise is now in a relationship with businessman Drew Michael while Jamie married model Frida Andersson in 2021.