Christine McGuinness has opened up about her split from husband Paddy McGuinness, admitting their divorce was a ‘difficult and challenging’ time.
The couple split in 2022 after 11 years of marriage but have remained living together in their family home while co-parenting their three children.
While the pair are still close friends, with Christine describing their amicable set-up as a ‘blessing,’ she confessed that she struggled amid the breakdown of their marriage.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, Christine shared: ‘Divorce is scary and it was scary for me – obviously, I’ve never done a divorce before! It’s an awful time.
‘But as much as it was challenging and difficult, a lot of the thoughts and feelings were really from listening to other people’s stories.
‘Obviously, you hear about divorce, you instantly think negativity, heartbreak and a broken family or whatever, you don’t hear about other families that [continue to] share their home.’
Christine McGuinness has reflected on her ‘difficult and challenging’ divorce from husband Paddy, revealing she’s in no rush to settle down again after enjoying dates with women
Paddy and Christine’s children, twins Penelope and Leo, 11, and Felicity, eight, all have autism, with the couple choosing to continue to live together so as not to disrupt their routines.
‘A lot of families that have got children with special educational needs choose to do it this way,’ Christine explained. ‘Maybe they don’t talk about it so much, but they’re the ones who really get it and understand it.’
Christine continued: ‘I actually do think it is a blessing, the way we work co-parenting.
‘It was always a decision from the beginning that no matter what, between me and Patrick, our priority is always the children, and that’s how we’ve kept it, fortunately…
‘We’re lucky that we genuinely get on so well. We’re not in a rush to sell the house. We don’t want to be putting the kids in mummy’s house and then in daddy’s house – and our work’s not in a routine and our children thrive on routine.
‘They love the home, and in my head it’s the children’s home for them to grow up in. I’m not in a rush for that to change, to be honest.
‘I’d love my own little flat somewhere, but this is my home.’
Following the breakdown of her marriage, Christine has been open about dating women, but said she’d never bring a date back to the house she shares with Paddy.
‘I would never do that,’ Christine insisted. ‘Like I said, this is the family home, and then Paddy and I have our lives outside.
‘But we never did have many visitors to the house, even when we were married. We don’t introduce the children to just anybody.
‘So certainly when it comes to dating, anything like that is going to take a very, very long time, like years, years and years.’
The couple split in 2022 after 11 years of marriage but have remained living together in their family home while co-parenting their three children (pictured in 2017)
Paddy and Christine’s children, twins Penelope and Leo, 11, and Felicity, eight, all have autism, with the couple choosing to continue to live together so as not to disrupt their routines
Since her split from Paddy, Christine has been linked to the likes of footballer Chelcee Grimes, DJ Roxxxan, and boxer Nicola Adams, yet she has insisted she’s in no rush to settle down.
Christine explained: ‘I think [being on your own] is something that should be embraced more.
‘If you can be okay with sitting in silence and going to bed alone, cooking for yourself, you’re giving yourself a different kind of independence.
‘And then you’re ok no matter what happens in your future, whether you’re walking away from a relationship or a job or whatever.
‘For me, one of the best things that came post-divorce, and it took a while, was just knowing that I’m going to be all right.
‘That I’ll be okay. I will laugh again, I will have fun again, I will love again, I will do all of those things again.
‘Because I think when you separate from a person that you’ve created a family with, if you can do that and then you can continue to laugh on your own and together, I don’t think there’s anything else in my future that I would struggle to walk away from like that again.
‘I always know that no matter what, nothing’s ever going to be as difficult as those conversations about my family and my marriage and my children. That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through.
‘So that has given me some comfort in that if I do date again or do have a relationship and if it doesn’t work out, I always know I’m going to be all right because I walked away from my children’s father and we still laugh together and still holidays together and it’s okay.’
Christine’s comments came after she fronted a new campaign with sensory-friendly lingerie line, Being Wear, that’s been designed with neurodivergent people in mind
Christine’s comments came after she fronted a new campaign with sensory-friendly lingerie line, Being Wear, that’s been designed with neurodivergent people in mind.
The TV personality looked incredible as she modelled the range, explaining it was a cause close to her heart.
Speaking about the collaboration, Christine shared: ‘As someone who is autistic myself and a mum to three autistic children, I know how much comfort in clothing affects your everyday life.
‘A seam, a tag, a waistband that sits wrong, these things matter more than people realise.
‘Being Wear has built something that works for bodies and minds like ours. I’m proud to help bring it to the UK, where I know so many families have been waiting for exactly this.’
To find out more about Being Wear’s inclusive lingerie range, visit beingwear.com
