Louise Redknapp's sudden split from Eternal in '95 as reunion plans up in flames
Louise Redknapp shocked fans when she quit Eternal in 1995.
The award-winning band shot to fame with their debut single, Stay, before becoming the first girl group to achieve a million record sales with their album, Always and Forever. However, Louise, 48, who recently pulled out of a reunion tour after bandmates Easther and Vernie Bennett reportedly refused to play at LGBT festivals, decided she'd had enough of Eternal during the peak of their fame, leaving her legion of loyal fans heartbroken.
The Naked star said at the time she felt "miserable and homesick" while on tour with the band, but Vernie insisted her sister and Kelle Bryan were "gutted" by her decision.
Louise Redknapp shocked fans when she quit Eternal in 1995 (Getty Images)Kelle, who is still close friends with Louise, said of her friend's departure: "It was devastating, no one could replace Louise." She continued: "I did struggle, I knew Louise's reasons for leaving, but they weren't mine. For me to stay it would have to be a financial reason." Vernie said when the group continued as a trio: "It was us coming from caterpillars from butterflies." However, Kelle admitted despite the success they were enjoying, all was not well behind closed doors. Speaking during the Big Reunion Show in 2014, she said: "Some of our most successful times were after Louise. It was pretty miserable, not even a hello or good morning. I don't think their [Easther and Vernie's] behaviour was kind and that was challenging. In our lives there was so much going on and we never communicated, I was aware something had to give along the way, but it just wasn't going to be me." It was suggested Kelle also leave to form a duo with Louise, which the Loose Women star stated she did not wish to do.
There were rumours Louise was dumped from the band in 1995 as its only white member, with some quarters suggesting Eternal's chances of breaking America would be improved as a trio with Easther, Vernie and Kelle. However, Eternal's management denied this was the case.
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Louise left the group before the release of the band's second album to focus on her solo career with the same label. After finding success with albums, including Naked, the mum-of-two left fans devastated again when she ruled out reuniting with Eternal when they starred in ITV2's The Big Reunion in 2014. She said she turned down the opportunity because they wouldn’t be able to make it “cool”. Louise told The Mirror at the time: “If we could do it in a mature, cool way then yeah. But I think it would be hard. There are so many great, current artists." However, there didn't appear to be any ill feeling between Louise and her former bandmates, as she tweeted after the show: "Hi guys some really lovely tweets tonight thank you and goodluck to @EternalReunion x."
But then the drama started back up again last week when it was revealed Louise and Kelle Bryan pulled out of a potential Eternal reunion tour earlier this year following a disagreement with former bandmates Easther and Vernie regarding the LGBTQ+ community.
The Mirror revealed on Saturday how Eternal had planned to reunite and tour next year - but trouble hit when the singing siblings reportedly refused to play the festivals, objecting to their allegiance with the trans community. Their objections led to Louise, alongside bandmate Kelle, abandoning the plans in June and leaving the sisters to tour as a duo.
The scrapped tour would have been the first time the band had performed in their original line-up since Louise quit for solo stardom in 1995. A source told the Mirror on Saturday: "Louise, Kelle, Easther and Vernie had all signed up to perform a huge nationwide tour next year, culminating with a huge show at pop festival Mighty Hoopla, which is loved by the gay community."
However, Esther and Vernie's reps have accused Louise of 'throwing the sisters under the bus' as the band's original manager, Denis Ingoldsby said: "Louise and her team have thrown them under the bus and everyone is totally appalled at their bullying behaviour by totally misrepresenting the situation to suit their own agenda."
He claimed the sisters sent an email to Louise's camp saying they 'loved' playing Pride and the "ethos of the event". Denis added that the dispute is "nothing about gay rights," and that Vernie and Easther have played "numerous LGBTQ+ gigs." He said: "Vernie said she had some concerns about the Pride movement being hijacked - and she is not alone - but this has now been weaponised against her, with Louise’s team trying to get her cancelled."
Last week, Louise celebrated the 30th anniversary of Eternal's debut single Stay. Posting on Instagram, she shared a collection of snaps of herself posing with her three former bandmates over the years. She captioned the post: Where it all began… 30 years ago today Stay was released!"
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