We love a second stab at happily ever after. So, we’re thrilled for Louise Redknapp, who publicly stepped out last week for the first time with new boyfriend Drew Michael, 38.
The couple were pictured heading to London’s Groucho Club shortly after Louise alluded to her new romance in an interview, teasing, “It’s all good”, when asked about her love life. And though she may be keeping her cards close to her chest, insiders tell us she’s not holding back in private, telling friends she feels “alive again” and is happier than ever with the younger businessman.
Cue a collective sigh from anyone who’s followed her rocky road to romance over the past six years, since she split from her former footballer Jamie Redknapp.
“Louise had such a rough time of it with Jamie,” says an insider close to the 48 year old, who’s spoken openly in the past about struggling to move on since her 19-year marriage ended in 2017. “It’s taken her a long time to learn to trust someone new, and also find someone she clicks with, but there’s no question there’s a lot of chemistry between her and Drew. She’s saying he’s made her feel alive again and, most importantly, loved again.”
While she’s staying relatively tight-lipped in public, Louise has previously opened up about the difficulties she’s faced in navigating the waters of a life post-divorce. Despite expressing some desire to date, the pop star has also resolutely devoted herself to her two sons with Jamie, Charley, 19, and Beau, 14. After Jamie married model Frida Andersson in 2021, and welcomed their first child together that same year, Louise became all the more reluctant to rock the boat.
Speaking in an interview, she said she needed to be her sons’ “one staple” in the face of so much change.
Now, however, she feels the time is right. With Charley at university in Arizona, and Beau getting older and more independent, Louise is telling friends it’s finally a chance to focus on herself. And while she’s loved-up and giddy over her and Drew’s fledgling romance, this is ultimately about her making a fresh new start, whatever the future holds.
“Her pals had joked that they were going to do a full background check on Drew before they allow her to really get serious with him,” our source says. “But the truth is, they just want to keep an eye on her because the last thing they want is for her to get hurt again. But for Louise, this feels like a step in the right direction. Whatever happens with Drew, she feels as though this will be a positive experience because it’s finally helping her close that chapter of her life with Jamie and really move on.”
Sounds like her happily ever after is closer than ever…
