Louise and Jamie Redknapp are living apart

Louise admitted she still lives her 44-year-old husband - the father of her sons Charley, 13, and eight-year-old Beau - but she needed to take some time out to focus on herself and her own needs.

She said: "It's so hard because I love him. He's an amazing man and we've had 20 good years together.

"I know he's trying to understand that I do need to do this. People might look at me and think I've got everything, but a sweeping staircase and designer handbag doesn't really do it for me.

"Being fulfilled, being true to yourself, following your passion, they are the things that make you happy.

"I have no idea what is going to happen, all I know is that I fought for this, it's taken everything, but this is something I need to do - for me."

The 42-year-old star felt things needed to change after she competed on 'Strictly Come Dancing' last year and realised she had "lost" herself and turned into a "Stepford Wife" whose only focus was on running the family home - but she admitted "no one" understood her desire to fulfill herself creatively once again.

In a candid interview with the Sunday Telegraph's Stella magazine, she said: "I feel I'm coming back to who I really am.

"I have spent most of my life pleasing everyone else, worrying about being judged and thinking I should always do the right thing by staying at home, looking after my kids and my husband. I lost myself.

"Looking after my family was my reality. I became a sort of Stepford Wife, wanting to be perfect at it.

"It was only when I agreed to do 'Strictly Come Dancing' that I realised I couldn't just go back to that. I didn't want to continue running around after everyone else, and occasionally promoting a yogurt or doing a little TV presenting job.

"I wanted to sing, I wanted to perform. I wanted to go back to work on a stage in front of an audience.

"I actually felt physically sick at the idea that I'd never have that buzz again, that fulfilment I get from performing.

"And that is when the s**t hit the fan. No one could understand why it was so desperately important to me."

And Louise admitted it was "pretty hard" seeing Jamie - who she married in 1998 - move from a successful soccer player to a well-respected pundit and a panellist on comedy game show 'A League of Their Own'.

She said: "Standing by and watching Jamie become this entertainment star was pretty hard.

"I was proud of him, but there was part of me thinking, 'That's my world'. I could see the excitement he got out of it and I knew how that felt. But it wasn't me feeling it any more."