She announced her split from husband Paddy McGuinness nearly two months ago. But Christine McGuinness seemed to be in a great place over the weekend, as she beamed while posing in wedding dresses.
On an outing with celebrity stylist Martine Alexander, the model, 34, tried on a range of white gowns at bridal shop The Wedding Club. “Save the date – February 30th,” she joked in an Instagram post about their day.
Now pals say Christine – who was married to Paddy for 11 years – is doing well following the break-up.
A source says, “Christine is feeling happy focusing on herself and has found solace in working out and staying healthy. She does feel like a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders since announcing the split and now she’s only looking to the future.
“When she was wearing the wedding dresses, she was just playing around for a photo shoot. But trying them on and feeling glam really made her feel good. It did get her thinking about how she’d like to meet someone in the future. She’s young enough to find happiness again and hasn’t given up on the idea of finding her happy ending with someone else and perhaps having that moment again in a wedding dress. Never say never. She’s only 34 – lots of people don’t find The One until much older.”
Christine’s 682k followers rushed to comment on the video – including her new best pal, singer-songwriter and footballer Chelcee Grimes, who simply posted a diamond emoji.
Paddy and Christine first met in 2007 when a then 19-year-old Christine grabbed the attention of Paddy – who is 15 years her senior – while modelling as part of a fashion show.
They tied the knot in a lavish ceremony held at Thornton Manor in Wirral in 2011 and the couple welcomed twins Leo and Penelope two years later, and daughter Felicity in 2016.
Their children were diagnosed as autistic in 2017 and since then, the supportive parents have been open about the struggles they have faced as a family – and even released a documentary, Our Family And Autism, to raise awareness about the developmental disability. “It’s very, very difficult, you know any parent with children with any kind of special needs is very difficult,” Paddy previously admitted. “Some days it’s a wonder how we’re still together, me and Christine, because you can’t sort of do the normal things that you would as a couple.”
Former Real Housewives Of Cheshire star Christine also revealed last year that she had been diagnosed with autism at the age of 33. In January, she said, “[It] was a huge relief – it helped me understand why I struggled my whole life.”
But earlier this year, rumours began to swirl that there was drama unfolding between the once loved-up couple behind closed doors.
Just weeks before they officially announced their separation, Christine cryptically admitted in an interview, “I’m feeling really quite raw and all over the place. What I might have put up with in the past, I probably wouldn’t put up with now, and the same for him. I can’t deny we are having a very, very difficult time.
“We’ve been together 15 years, 11 years married: we are gonna have ups and downs – but this situation at the minute – I don’t want to go into it too much, but I will just say that I didn’t cause this situation.”
While Christine jetted off on a girls’ holiday with close friend Chelcee, who she met on The Games in May, it was then reported that the comedian had cheated on his wife with a fellow TV star the previous year – something neither Christine or Paddy have confirmed or denied.
The couple then went public with their separation in July, but have said that they’ll continue to live together for the sake of the children.
Since then Christine seems to have been thriving, showing off smiley selfies on her social media, and reports even claimed she was set to land her own reality TV show, with the star even posting a cryptic finger to lip emoji when asked about her TV plans.
And now an insider tells Closer how Christine is keen to start carving out a new life for herself, so she and Paddy are making plans for how and when he can move out of their house.
The source says, “Christine’s had a tough year, and it was really hard to go public with the news of their split. But since then, she’s been thinking about her future and things are looking more positive. Naturally, Christine and Paddy are both thinking about their next steps and how they will co-parent together without disrupting their children’s lives, as they are their priority.
“Christine would like to stay where she is if possible as it’s the family home and where the kids feel settled. Paddy won’t move far either. She’d like to be living on her own before the end of the year so she can start 2023 on a fresh page and kick off what she hopes will be an exciting new chapter in her life.
“She has been bombarded with offers from TV producers in the past few months and is really excited. She’d like to do something about how she juggles her career with being a mum and how she copes with the autism that she’s been diagnosed with. She’d love to do some kind of reality show welcoming viewers into her life as there are a lot of things she believes she can pass on to others going through the same situation as her.”