She confirmed her split from husband Paddy McGuinness last July, saying they had reached the decision “a while ago”. And last week, Christine McGuinness admitted that she wasn’t always true to herself during their 11-year marriage.
Opening up in an interview, she said, “I’d always wanted to be a wife so once I met Patrick, I fully went into “perfect wife” mode, you know, ‘I’ll stay in, I’ll cook and clean and make sure I’m the best wife I can be’. I was always pretending to be something else rather than simply just me, that’s all part of masking.”
Christine, 34, met Paddy, 49, when she was modelling at the Liverpool Tennis Tournament in 2007, aged just 19. They tied the knot four years later at Merseyside’s Thornton Manor Estate, where comedian Peter Kay was among the 200 guests.
The couple went on to welcome twins Penelope and Leo, nine, and daughter Felicity, six, who all have autism.
“What gets to me with them all is when I think, ‘Will they ever know how loved they are? Do they understand what love is?’” an emotional Paddy admitted during filming for Our Family And Autism.
In 2018, Christine and Paddy’s marriage hit a bump in the road when he was pictured arm in arm with All Saints singer Nicole Appleton. Recalling the moment she saw the pictures, Christine said in her autobiography A Beautiful Nightmare, “I felt physically sick. I ran to the toilet to vomit. Still to this day, I can remember that absolutely awful pit-of-your-stomach feeling.”
Then after more speculation, the couple confirmed their split last summer, shortly after Christine – who revealed her own autism diagnosis in 2021 – competed in The Games. At the time, she told Closer, “This experience has been life-changing in such a positive way. It’s the most I’ve felt like I’ve had friends.”
The couple are still co-habiting to provide stability for their children, with Liverpudlian Christine explaining that they don’t want any “dramatic changes overnight”.
Paddy – who isn’t thought to be dating anyone new – was spotted without his wedding ring earlier this month, after being pictured several times with it on.
Meanwhile, Christine appears to be thriving professionally, writing on 13 January as she returned to work, “Today was the first time I felt like my usual self, I really do love my life”.