Paddy McGuinness has opened up about his struggles as a father of autistic children.
The Take Me Out presenter’s five-year-old twins Leo and Penelope were diagnosed with autism and his wife Christine has previously revealed that she fears their two-year-old daughter Felicity will also be diagnosed as autistic.
Speaking on John Bishop’s In Conversation With… series, Paddy revealed that he has struggled with fatherhood.
“It’s still very difficult for me to deal with – it’s still very difficult. We crave… I crave normality with my children,” he admitted.
Tearing up, he continued: “Now I have this different thing where, the things that people take for granted… like I was out at the local supermarket and a guy was there with his son. About a four year old, and he’s going ‘Dad, can I have a yoghurt?’ and he’s like ‘no you can’t have a bloody yoghurt put it back your mum’s doing your tea’.”
“So he’s like ‘wahhh’ and the dad’s like ‘put it back’ and you know… a total normal, mundane thing, and I looked at it and thought ‘God – that bloke is so lucky to have that’. That’s how I felt at the time.”
Paddy’s wife Christine has become a spokesperson for those with autism and has often spoken out about the difficulties that those with the condition face.
During an appearance on Loose Women last year, she said: “We had absolutely no idea they had autism even though the signs were there.
‘They were non-verbal until they were three, they both walked on their tip toes, they didn’t socialise very well, they still do struggle with socialising with other children.
‘That’s probably one of the most heart-breaking parts of it because that’s just something you expect your children to do, go and make lots of friends. It is quite common for children and adults with autism to struggle with socialising.”
GALLERY: Weird and wonderful celebrity baby names
Celebrity baby names - Closer
1 of 37For girls: Harper
Celebrity parent(s): Victoria and David BeckhamMeaning: A musician who plays the harp
2 of 37For girls: Apple
Celebrity parent(s): Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris MartinMeaning: Er... apple!
3 of 37For girls: North
Celebrity parent(s): Kim Kardashian and Kanye WestMeaning: Lying towards, near, or facing the north
4 of 37For girls: Charlotte
Celebrity parent(s): Kate Middleton and Prince WilliamMeaning: Petite and feminine
5 of 37For girls: Cricket
Celebrity parent(s): Busy Philipps and Marc SilversteinMeaning: The name of an insect/ a bat and ball sport
6 of 37For girls: Nelly
Celebrity parent(s): Billie FaiersMeaning: Shining light, or most beautiful woman
7 of 37For girls: Sunday
Celebrity parent(s): Nicole Kidman and Keith UrbanMeaning: The day of the week before Monday and following Saturday
8 of 37For girls: Fifi Trixibelle
Celebrity parent(s): Bob Geldof and Paula YatesMeaning: Fifi means, Jehovah increases. Trixibelle means, a voyager through life.
9 of 37For girls: Ava
Celebrity parent(s): Mylene KlassMeaning: Living one
10 of 37For girls: India
Celebrity parent(s): Binky Felstead and JP PattersonMeaning: Country name, taken from the Indus river
11 of 37For girls: Polly
Celebrity parent(s): Amy ChildsMeaning: Small
12 of 37For girls: Dream
Celebrity parent(s): Rob Kardashian and Blac ChynaMeaning: a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep
13 of 37For girls: Gravity
Celebrity parent(s): Lucky Blue Smith and Stormi LeeMeaning: The force that attracts a body towards the centre of the earth
14 of 37For girls: Stormi
Celebrity parent(s): Kylie Jenner and Jacques Webster aka Travis Scott Meaning: Pretty self explanatory but stormy weather
15 of 37For girls: Sophia
Celebrity parent(s): Abbey Clancy and Peter CrouchMeaning: Wisdom
16 of 37For girls: True
Celebrity parent(s): Khloe Kardashian and Tristan ThompsonMeaning: Accurate or exact
17 of 37For girls: Vivienne
Celebrity parent(s): Harry Kane and Kate GoodersMeaning: Alive
18 of 37For boys: Future
Celebrity parent(s): Ciara and Nayvadius DeMun Cash (aka. Future the rapper)Meaning: Time regarded as still to come.
19 of 37For boys: George
Celebrity parent(s): Kate Middleton and Prince WilliamMeaning: Tiller or the soil, or farmer
20 of 37For boys: Paul
Celebrity parent(s): Sam FaiersMeaning: Small or humble
21 of 37For boys: Denim
Celebrity parent(s): Toni Braxton and Keri LewisMeaning: A hard-wearing cotton twill fabric, typically blue and used for jeans
22 of 37For boys: Zachary
Celebrity parent(s): Stacey SolomonMeaning: Remembered by God
23 of 37For boys: Kyd
Celebrity parent(s): David Duchovny and Tea LeoniMeaning: A hilarious mispelling of 'kid'? Who knows!
24 of 37For boys: Jermajesty
Celebrity parent(s): Jermaine JacksonMeaning: A portmanteau or Jer for Jermaine and majesty, meaning royal power
25 of 37For boys: Harvey
Celebrity parent(s): Katie PriceMeaning: Battle worthy
26 of 37For boys: Kal-El
Celebrity parent(s): Nicolas Cage and Alice KimMeaning: Superman's real/ original name
27 of 37For boys: Remington
Celebrity parent(s): Kelly ClarksonMeaning: Apparently it means 'from the raven estate'. Interesting...
28 of 37For boys: Evander
Celebrity parent(s): ExampleMeaning: Strong man or warrior.
29 of 37For boys: Jack
Celebrity parent(s): Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Jason StathamMeaning: Man
30 of 37For boys: Bear
Celebrity parent(s): Cheryl and Liam PayneMeaning: The animal, or to carry/ support the weight of
31 of 37For twins: Monroe and Moroccan
Celebrity parent(s): Mariah Carey and Nick CannonMeanings: Monroe; 'from the mouth of the Roe' and also Marilyn's surname. Moroccan; relating to Morocco or its people.
32 of 37For twins: Rumi and Sir
Celebrity parent(s): Beyonce and Jay-ZMeanings: Rumi; the name of a 13th century (male) mystic and poet. Sir; a polite or respectful way of addressing a man
33 of 37For twins: Vivienne and Knox
Celebrity parent(s): Angelia Jolie and Brad PittMeaning: Vivienne; derived from the Latin Vivianus, which has its root in vivus (alive). Knox; from the hilss.
34 of 37For twins: Marion and Tabitha
Celebrity parent(s): Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew BroderickMeaning: Marion; bitterness, beloved, wished for child. Tabitha; gazelle.
35 of 37For twins: Emme and Maximillian
Celebrity parent(s): Jennifer Lopez and Marc AnthonyMeaning: Emme; universal. Maximillian; greatest.
36 of 37For twins: Hazel and Phinnaeus
Celebrity parent(s): Julia Roberts and Danny ModerMeaning: Hazel; the hazelnut tree. Phinnaeus; the mouth of a snake, mouth of brass.
37 of 37For twins: Ella and Alexander
Celebrity parent(s): George and Amal ClooneyMeaning: Ella; can mean 'light' or 'beautiful fairy woman.' Alexander; defender of men.
During his chat with John Bishop, Paddy also revealed that he’s in the process of making a TV show about having children with autism.
“I’m just working on it at the minute, I’m going to be doing a programme about it, because I feel that strongly about it,” he revealed.
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