Paddy and Christine McGuinness announce split after 11 years of marriage
They've released an emotional statement
Last updated 25th Jul 2022
Following weeks of rumours that their marriage was on the rocks, Top Gear presenter Paddy McGuinness and his wife Christine have announced they've sadly split.
Christine, who shares three children with Paddy, took to her Instagram Story to write: 'We hadn't planned on sharing this publicly until we were ready but after a lack of privacy surrounding our personal life, we feel left with no other option but to clarify.
'A while ago we took the difficult decision to separate but our main focus was as always is to continue loving and supporting our children. This was not an easy decision to make but we're moving forward as the best parents we can be for our three beautiful children.
'We'll always be a loving family, we still have a great relationship and still live happily in our family home together. We hope this now draws a line under anymore unwanted and unnecessary intrusion into our private life.
'Although we work in the public eye we ask kindly if you could respect our wishes for privacy on this matter. We'll be making no further comment.'
Despite the split, the pair have revealed they will continue to live together for the sake of their three children, eight-year-old twins Penelope and Leo, and six-year-old Felicity, who have all been diagnosed with autism.
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Paddy and Christine McGuinnessPaddy and Christine McGuinness
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Just hours before confirming their split, 48-year-old Paddy uploaded a selfie from a recent family trip to Centre Parcs, after their planned holiday to Spain was cancelled due to passport issues.
He wrote: 'Yes! We finally got away for our family holiday! 😎
'After discovering, 3 days before we were due to fly, our youngest daughters passport had expired, our holiday to Spain had to be cancelled. We’d been telling the kids all about it, especially the airport part, so to suddenly change plans wasn’t easy! Mums and Dads with Autistic children will know exactly what I mean 😅
'Thankfully we got lucky and found the last available lodge at Centre Parcs, I booked it straight away. It was a big tree house and the kids absolutely loved it!!! We had a full week of activities booked for them and discovered a few of our childrens hidden talents, namely scaling the indoor climbing walls. I’m so proud of how well they did but mainly by how much fun they had. ❤️
'We met another family there who also had a child with Autism. They’d been going there for years. We can highly recommend Nottingham Centre Parcs, this isn’t an advert, we paid. If you’re a family who struggles with airports and all the hassles of travelling abroad this place could be the answer, it even had it’s own beach! The staff were great with the kids and you can please yourself what you want to do. You can chill out and have a quiet one or dive into all the activities! We did a bit of both. We’ll definitely go back there.
'We’re home now to our own beds, which no holiday can ever beat! 😁 #holiday #friday #family #centreparcs #nottingham #climbing #forestwalks #beach #familyfriendly #autismawareness #boats #bikes #activities #childfriendly'. (sic)
Paddy started dating The Real Housewives of Cheshire star Christine way back in 2007, with the Take Me Out host proposing on Christmas Day in 2008.
Paddy and Christine went on to get married at Thornton Manor in Wirral, before welcoming three children together.
Last year, the pair featured in a BBC One documentary called Paddy and Christine McGuinness: Our Family and Autism, where they raised awareness and helped other parents facing the same difficulties.