Paddy McGuinness has split from wife Christine after 11 years of marriage, MailOnline can exclusively reveal.
The couple have been “living separate lives” for months and their recent wedding anniversary was a non-event, with no social media posts about the occasion.
Taking to Instagram on Friday, Paddy, 48, and Christine, 34, confirmed their split but revealed they will continue to live together for the sake of their three autistic children.
The couple share twins Penelope and Leo, eight, and Felicity, six, who have both been diagnosed with the developmental disorder, and insist their education remains a priority.
All over the place: Paddy McGuinness has split from wife Christine after 11 years of marriage, MailOnline can exclusively reveal
Sharing a joint statement, they wrote: “We didn’t plan to share this publicly until we were ready, but after the lack of privacy surrounding our personal lives, we feel we have no choice but to come clean.
“Some time ago we made the difficult decision to separate, but our main goal, as always, is to continue to love and support our children.
“This was not an easy decision for a man, but we are moving forward to be the best parents we can be to our three beautiful children. We will always be a loving family, we still have a great relationship and we still live happily in our home.
“We hope this now draws a line with unwanted and unnecessary intrusion into our private lives.
“While we work in the public eye, we kindly ask that you please respect our wishes for privacy in this matter. We will have no further comment.
Finished: The couple have been “living separate lives” for months, and their recent wedding anniversary was a non-event.
A source told MailOnline: ‘Paddy and Christine have given everything to their marriage over the years.
“Sadly, they have made the difficult decision to separate for the sake of their young family, who will continue to parent together.
“It’s been no secret within their inner circle that it’s been a difficult few years for them as a couple, but they still support each other and will continue to do so during their separation.”
Opening: Christine appeared on breakfast show Lorraine last week to address claims of a breakdown in her marriage to Paddy
Their split comes four months after the couple released their first podcast together, Table Talk, which talks about the realities facing families with seriously ill or disabled children.
It follows their critically acclaimed BBC documentary, Our Family and Autism, where they spoke in detail for the first time about parenting their three children with the condition.
Former Take Me Out presenter Paddy admitted he found his diagnosis “hard to accept”.
He said: “The early days when we didn’t know anything about autism were really hard.
‘The children did not sleep; they would have seizures with loud noises and bright lights and nothing we did helped. We kept the curtains closed and hardly let anyone in the house.
Priority: The couple share twins Penelope and Leo, eight, and Felicity, six, who have both been diagnosed with autism.
Worry: Paddy previously admitted that his biggest fear is that his children won’t recognize how much they are loved because their autism makes them struggle with emotions.
Paddy’s biggest fear is that his children won’t recognize how loved they are because their autism makes them struggle with emotions.
In the documentary, which aired in December, Christine explained: “He’s been saying this about love for years and it’s not something we’ve disagreed on, but Patrick has been worried for years that the children don’t feel loved, or they do.” I do not get it.
— I have always said yes; they struggle to show it and struggle to appreciate sometimes everything we do for them because they are autistic”.
Mystery: Paddy’s tattoo tribute to wife Christine (pictured) has been missing in recent social media posts, prompting speculation of a rift
Christine was diagnosed as autistic during the documentary, and confessed that she struggled in school, had few friends growing up and preferred to spend time alone.
The Games contestant revealed she spent eight years of her marriage to Paddy at home because she was uncomfortable around people.
She said: “In my 20s I had about eight years of staying in and avoiding any kind of contact with anyone other than my husband. I just avoided everyone. I didn’t socialise, I never had friends so never been a problem.
“It’s something I’ve thought about for years and even at school I always felt different. I knew something was up.
Christine hasn’t shared an Instagram photo with Paddy since February, when she posted a promotional picture of the pair to launch her podcast.
The couple have also appeared in the critically acclaimed BBC documentary Our Family and Autism, where they spoke in detail for the first time about raising their three children with the condition.
Paddy admitted he found his diagnosis “hard to accept”.
He said: “The early days when we didn’t know anything about autism were really hard.
‘The children did not sleep; they would have seizures with loud noises and bright lights and nothing we did helped. We kept the curtains closed and hardly let anyone in the house.
Paddy’s biggest fear is that his children won’t recognize how loved they are because their autism makes them struggle with emotions.
In the documentary, which aired in December, Christine explained: “He’s been saying this about love for years and it’s not something we’ve disagreed on, but Patrick has been worried for years that the children don’t feel loved, or they do.” I do not get it.
— I have always said yes; they struggle to show it and struggle to appreciate sometimes everything we do for them because they are autistic”.
Christine was diagnosed as autistic during the documentary, and confessed that she struggled in school, had few friends growing up and preferred to spend time alone.
The Games contestant revealed she spent eight years of her marriage to Paddy at home because she was uncomfortable around people.
She said: “In my 20s I had about eight years of staying in and avoiding any kind of contact with anyone other than my husband. I just avoided everyone. I didn’t socialise, I never had friends so never been a problem.
“It’s something I’ve thought about for years and even at school I always felt different. I knew something was up.
Christine met Paddy while modeling at a tennis tournament in Liverpool in 2007 and the couple tied the knot in a lavish wedding at Thornton Manor three years later.
Their relationship appeared to be strained in February 2018 when Paddy was photographed arm-in-arm with former All Saints singer Nicole Appleton.
Christine opened up about the couple’s “difficult” marriage shortly after pictures of Paddy and Nicole, 47, spotted in London’s Soho, emerged.
In March 2018, she said: “It’s been hard recently. I want us to spend more time together, do things together.
I wish he would stay home more or that I could go with him. But we are happier than ever, we have been working hard.
“There have been times when he’s left to go to work and I’ve waved him off and then I’ve come home and cried thinking I wish he’d stay.”
In his biography, My Lifey, which was published last year, Paddy said in the chapter titled Marriage and Kids that he and Christine are “polar opposites with no common interests”.
She explained that their relationship had survived until now because of the laughs they share together and their mutual interest in making love.
Paddy wrote: “We don’t like the same movies, TV shows or food, we wouldn’t go out on a night out together and we annoy each other most of the time.
“I barely know any of his mates and apart from living in the same house we have completely separate lives.
“So why are we still married after a decade? Answer: We laugh and make love… a lot.