While they say they made the decision “some time ago”, they say they will still live with their three children at their family home in Cheshire. They posted a joint statement on their Instagram stories, which read: “We hadn’t planned 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. “A while 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, but we are moving forward to be the best parents we can be to the three of us beautiful children.We will always be a loving family, we still have a wonderful relationship and still live happily in our family home together. “We hope this now puts an end to an unwanted and unnecessary intrusion into our privacy. Although we work in public, we kindly ask if you can respect our wishes for privacy in this matter. We will make no further comment.” They signed the message: “Loads of love. Paddy & Christine.” The Top Gear presenter and model are parents to twins Leo and Penelope, nine, and Felicity, six. All three children have autism and Christine was subsequently diagnosed with the condition. In December 2021, the couple spoke openly about living with autism in the BBC documentary Our Family And Autism. Image: The former couple announced their split on social media. Photo: Instagram/@mcguinness.paddy/@mrscmcguinness The couple first met in 2007 at the Liverpool Tennis Tournament, where Christine was working as a model, and married four years later at Thornton Manor in Cheshire. Comedian and actor Peter Kay, who starred alongside Paddy in Phoenix Nights and Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere, was his best man. In 2018, Paddy revealed that he had been diagnosed with arthritis at the age of 44. Subscribe to the Backstage podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker As well as a successful acting career, Paddy’s presenting has flourished over the years, moving from Take Me Out to Top Gear and most recently taking over from Sue Barker as presenter of A Question Of Sport. Christine joined the cast of Real Housewives Of Cheshire in 2019 after previously appearing on the reality show as a friend. He left the show the following year.
