Christine McGuinness is planning to buy a flat in London as she embraces a new chapter in her life, five years after receiving her autism diagnosis. The TV personality, who also received an ADHD diagnosis in 2022, feels people now see her as more than just “Paddy McGuiness’s wife”.
A New Sense of Self
“Getting to know and understand myself more has helped me dramatically and my advice to other people in a similar situation is always be kind and patient with yourself,” she said. “I'm definitely getting there. I'm not confident. I'm not insecure. I'm just at a nice place in my mind and in my body. I haven’t got crazy worries about life and I’m not trying to do crazy things or make noise.”
The Blackpool-born star, 37, was married to Top Gear host Paddy McGuinness for 11 years before their split in 2022. They continue to live together in Cheshire with their three children, twins Leo and Penelope, 13, and nine-year-old Felicity, who are also autistic.
Career and Advocacy
Since the separation, Christine has built a successful career as a best-selling children’s author, campaigner, and documentary maker. “I’m never trying to prove a point or anything, but I do feel people are seeing me for more than just how I look or just being Paddy’s wife. I’ve got so much more to talk about and so much more to say. There’s more to me than how I look.”
She continues her work raising awareness of neurodiversity and was speaking as she teamed up with underwear brand Being Wear, whose sensory-friendly, gender-neutral clothing is designed with neurodivergent people in mind. “Imagine going into a shop and it just being gender-free shopping, where you can all wear whatever you want and it's not like his or hers - I really, really loved that.”
New Projects and Future Plans
Alongside her advocacy, Christine is writing her first novel, inspired by her own experiences of being in relationships with women. “It’s very much about love and is not a kiss and tell,” she says. “Yes, there’s the naughty scenes in there and they are more detailed, I suppose, than what I've read in others, but it's not about that. It's very much about the woman - how she thinks, how her mind works and how she feels.”
While her children will always be her priority, she is relishing being in control of her own life and the feeling that she’s “getting closer to it being my turn.” Part of that next chapter includes looking for a London flat, although she and Paddy have no plans to end their co-parenting arrangement in Cheshire.
“The children love it and it really works,” she says. “So instead of getting two separate homes we’ll keep and share the family home for as long as it works for everyone, but get our own separate places. I'm in London a lot for work, so I'd love a little flat there and be a proper little Sex and the City girl!”
