Louise Redknapp has slammed the "double standards" of parenting.

Louise Redknapp

Louise Redknapp

The Eternal star - who has Beau, 12, and Charles, 16, with her ex-husband Jamie Redknapp - has revealed she was "so heavily judged" for having some time to herself after her split from Jamie, with people constantly criticising her for what she was or wasn't doing for her children.

Writing in her book, 'You've Got This: And Other Things I Wish I Had Known', in an excerpt shared with the Metro newspaper, she shared: "When I split up with Jamie, the accusations came in thick and fast. I was so heavily judged, and it amazed me that so many people, including other women, made assumptions about what I was or wasn’t doing when it came to my kids. If I go on holiday with some of my girlfriends, or even just out for a meal in the evening and I’m photographed, it feels like I’m suddenly being seen as a terrible mother. I noticed real double standards: women are simply expected to be with their kids, whereas if fathers spend any time with their children, then suddenly they are ‘Super Dad’ or Dad of the Year."

Meanwhile, Louise previously confessed she finds online dating "difficult to navigate".

She shared: "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."