Christine McGuinness spent years being referred to as the wife of her famous comic husband, Paddy. However, after their split three years ago, she’s become a force to be reckoned with in her own right — though it’s been an adjustment, she admits.
“As much as my marriage was in the public eye, it kind of wasn’t,” she says. “It was known about because Paddy had been on television for years, and people knew he was married and had children, but we didn’t do a lot of work together or as a family.
“We did the documentaries, which I’m so proud of, but we only ever went to the odd event and weren’t all over social media. I’ve been separated for three years now and it’s honestly taken me that time to try and get my head around why there’s interest in me.”
Just days after we chatted to Christine, she made front page news, reportedly enjoying a “fun fling” with a top soap actress after the pair met at an awards bash in 2023. And while the details were lacking, the interest was very much there. But it isn’t only her love life that people are fascinated by; there just seems to be something about Blackpool-born Christine, 37, that people are drawn to.
Her stint on The Real Housewives Of Cheshire revealed her down-to-earth manner and quick wit, and her later appearances on ITV ’s Strictly The Real Full Monty and BBC’s Pilgrimage only added to her appeal. For the former Miss Liverpool, who was given an autism and ADHD diagnosis in 2021, it doesn’t always sit easy with her. She reveals that it was only after a conversation with Married At First Sight host and relationship expert Paul C Brunson that she started to accept it.
“I explained that the attention wasn’t necessarily negative, it was just a lot,” she says. “It was overwhelming me in a way that was making me want to go quiet on my social media. I was saying no to jobs and opportunities that I wanted. He basically said, ‘Instead of trying to figure out why, why don’t you just think that there must be something unique about you, to have all that attention on you?’"
“He pointed out that in every interview I’d done, I talked about how unique my children are, and how that’s fantastic. He told me to look at myself as that unique person, as well. It made me think, ‘Wow, am I one of those unique people?’ — because I don’t feel like it at all.
“I’d been spinning everything around in my head. Being neurodiverse, divorced and still living with my ex-husband, having three neurodiverse children... I was seeing it as ‘too much’ for people, and wondering if I needed to step back.”
Earlier this year, Christine pulled out of Celebs Go Dating, saying she’d joined with great intentions but realised it was “too soon” for the attention that it would invite.
She returned home to her and Paddy’s children, twins Leo and Penelope, 12, and eight-year-old Felicity, all of whom are autistic. That home is another source of interest, because she still lives there with Paddy, 51, “quite happily”, she says, describing the decision as “co-parents who co-habit” for the sake of their children. This is despite the fact that the couple’s divorce was finalised in October 2024.
Thanks to the great success of the documentaries, Paddy And Christine McGuinness: Our Family And Autism , then Christine McGuinness: Unmasking My Autism, she’s become an active campaigner for families like her's. Her goal is to spread awareness, increase education and, ultimately, make the world a more accepting place for every neurodiverse child and adult.
She’s currently backing a campaign by home builders Barratt Redrow, who have committed to building 100 new accessible and inclusive play areas every year.
“As a mum of three autistic children I know the struggle of trying to find places that are suitable for them,” she says. “Not just suitable because of what there is to play with, but spaces where they feel safe, wanted and understood.
“You feel like a failure when you’re not getting your children out and about enough, and your children aren’t picking up social cues, and learning to play with others and communicate.
“As a parent you do anything to support them so they can grow up as independent as possible. You’ll always find a brick wall that you want to bash down and you get to a point where you’re exhausted – but the fight for your children never, ever stops.”
The biggest upside for Christine will be greater integration for children with physical or hidden disabilities, or neurodiverse needs because, she says, “the children are going to be the doctors, teachers, CEOs of the future, the ones including all the children who were disabled”.
Christine is acutely aware of how much she wants to change, and how little time she has to do it.
“I try not to look too far ahead because it upsets me,” she says. “I have to separate being a carer and a mum. I’ll take my emotions out of it as a mum, and become a carer. I’ve got to make sure my children have help and support, and help people understand the need to be patient, to celebrate and support them. I’m not the only autistic mum with autistic children — there are thousands of families with exactly the same fears.
“I’m raising three children to one day live without me, and those are three children I can’t live without, and that breaks my heart. But it’s what makes me keep going and keep fighting. I feel extremely fortunate that I can try and help make changes that other people don’t even think about.”
Being at home with Leo, Penelope and Felicity is her “safe space”, she adds. “It’s my comfort zone, it’s where I get my love,” she smiles.
After getting her own autism diagnosis and finally understanding why she’s struggled in certain aspects of life, such as building and maintaining healthy friendships, Christine threw herself into “doing what other people do”.
“I put all my energies into trying to make friends, go to events, go to work. I went 100 miles an hour, but things like calling people up, or inviting someone for dinner don’t come naturally to me. I realised it wasn’t actually what I wanted. I was doing it because I thought that’s what you were supposed to do.
“So now it’s about me finding the balance. I’m in a good place now and I understand myself, and other people, more. I’m more selective with who I let into my life, who I share my phone number with. It’s been a learning curve. I’m getting more comfortable with saying no.”
It’s clear that if being part of the most talked-about celebrity divorces of recent years isn’t enough to make Christine run for the hills, nothing will. In fact, she says confidently, she chooses to consider any hurdle — big or small — as a lesson.
“I’ve learnt from every lesson — and I’ve had many. There have been things that people will never know about, that I’ll never talk about, that have been really hard, difficult lessons.
“I can only see them as blessings because it’s teaching me things. What to do, what not to do, who to trust, who not to trust.
“The biggest thing of all is what my mum has always drummed it into me but I never listened — and we should always listen to our mums, ‘If you just be yourself, you can’t go wrong.’ That’s what I’m trying to remember to do, and encouraging my children to do.”
