STAR : LOUISE

 "This is great" says Louise, as she breezes into Chiswick's Cafe Rouge, "I get to sit around in my jeans, drinking hot chocolate with my dog!" Although she's a glamorous singer with a footie-star husband, Louise is not your everyday showbiz celeb and as she settles down with a hot drink while her seven-stone bulldog, Winston, sniffs around for any stray chips, she chats away about her married life, away from the spotlight. "I've been really busy promoting my last two singles, so I've not had much time off lately," she reveals, "but I did have two tears off before that, so I'm really enjoying working."

 With Louise and Jamie juggling busy schedules they do still manage to find time to chill out together. "He's injured at the moment, so he's got a bit more time, but you can bet your life that when he next has to go away on a Friday night for a weekend game, it'll be my only night off. We always make it work as we both realise that our careers could be very short-lived and we've got to make the most of them. Before my two years off, I'd get really upset with my hectic schedule as I'd always miss my friends birthdays and stuff, but that time off made me realise  how much I love what I do. My number one priority is Jamie and when I have children, obviously they will be my priority. But I love music and I'm going to enjoy it for as long as it lasts."

 Now that she's settled comfortably into married life, children are very much on her mind. "I want to have children after this album, but you never know," she grins. But at the moment she seems to have her hands full looking after the two men in her life, Jamie and Winston. "Winston was a birthday present from jamie last year, I was in the studio recording my album and I'd drive from Doncaster to Liverpool. About two days before my birthday he kept phoning me saying "How far away are you?" and I'm thinking, "he just wants me to come home and make dinner even though I've been driving for hours, so I'm really going to have a go at him when I get in." But when I opened the door he was standing there with a little white bundle of fluff and it was Winston!" It's hard to imagine that Winston could once fit in Louise's hand as he attempts to straddle a leather chair, "He's got different coloured nuts," Louise proclaims, "One's pink and one's black. Jamie's so proud of that! Winston's a tear old and about seven stone now and they don't stop growing until they're 18 months old! I don't leave him indoors all day so if I'm doing photo shoots, or I'm in the studio, he comes along and he's really good."

 So is Jamie always very romantic? "He's not really a pampering husband. I suppose the most romantic thing he's ever done was to buy me a dog. He was injured recently and had to go around on crutches. I'd get three knocks on the wall and he'd shout 'Can I have a cup of tea?' He'd only hurt his knee, not lost his hands!"

 Louise and Jamie seem to be completely devoted to each other which is often unusual for a celebrity couple, so how do they manage to make it work? "We don't go to premiers or anything like that. Everybody knows that we're married and he's a footballer and I'm a singer, but behind closed doors we're just husband and wife. I understand the passion he has for his football and he knows how much I love my music, but we put each other first."

 Does this mean that if Jamie was offered a transfer to foreign climes Louise would follow? "I'd do what I do now and travel to wherever he is. I would certainly encourage him to go and I hope that he would do the same for me if i ever had the opportunity to go off and do something I really wanted to do."

 But every girl needs to let her hair down and have a night out with the girls, so what's Louise's idea of a great night put? " All of my friends are from school when I was 11, or people who I work with. I know showbiz people to say 'hello' to but not to ring up and go out." Although she loves glamming it up now and again, her perfect evening would be something a bit more intimate. "There's this great Italian restaurant in Knightsbridge called Scalini, It's really lively and you can get a big bowl of pasta - proper food!"

 "There's a time for going out but there's also a time for staying in. i spend a lot of time travelling from Liverpool to London and I have to admit that when I hear that Eastenders theme, I know I'm home!"
 After a call from Quickfit to check if her flat tyre has been repaired, Louise and Winston head off home. "It's fish fingers and mash for dinner tonight, Winny!"