Louise Redknapp finds online dating “difficult to navigate”.
Louise Redknapp
The 46-year-old singer split from her ex-husband Jamie Redknapp in 2017 and has admitted she hasn’t been in a serious relationship since because the men she meets on dating apps keep losing touch with her.
Writing in an extract from her upcoming book, ‘You’ve Got This: And Other Things I Wish I Had Known’, obtained by The Sun newspaper, she said: “I had what I thought was a good chat with a guy, and then one day he asked me what I was up to.
“I said, ‘Oh, I’m just going for a bike ride’. And that was the end of that. It’s been five months and no reply.
“I’m just sitting here wondering what was it that I said? Are bike rides that unattractive?
“Basically, this is a way to say the new world of dating is so opaque and difficult to navigate.
“It’s easy to feel you’ve done or said something wrong, when in reality it’s not on you.”
Louise even had to call on her kids - Charley, 16, and Beau, 12, whom she has with Jamie – for help after one potential suitor insinuated he wanted “explicit photos” from her.
She added: “I was talking to Charley one day about how I’d met a guy who wanted to bring the conversation over to Snapchat, and immediately he was like, ‘Mum, no’.
“Apparently, the only reason you want to Snapchat is if you’ve already got a partner or you just want to share explicit photos. Who knew I’d be getting dating advice from my son?”
The former Eternal singer doesn’t want to try celebrity dating app Raya, because she doesn’t want too much attention on her love life.
She explained: “The fact that my life comes with a lot of press attention makes things even more complicated.
“Whoever publicly dates me is going to have to really like me a lot, as they’ll need to be able to put up with the kind of scrutiny I am often under.
“Ultimately, it just creates another barrier and makes it harder for me to let my guard down.
“I’d love to meet somebody who I could have an amazing time with, who is strong enough to deal with the circus and who would be happy to be with the real me.
“Dating after divorce has been a good opportunity to learn to understand what I need and deserve.”
‘You’ve Got This: And Other Things I Wish I Had Known’ is set to be released on March 4.
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