Christine McGuinness shares how autism diagnosis affected her after Paddy split

Christine McGuinness has opened up about dating after her autism diagnosis at the Pride of Britain Awards in London.

The mother of three was in her early thirties when she was diagnosed with autism in 2021, and her whole life began to “make sense”.

Now the 36-year-old model has faced a new challenge after the diagnosis with dating, after she split from her husband Paddy McGuinness, 50, in 2022.

Though the model has said in the past she would “never marry again”, Christine revealed that she started dating for the first time since the split earlier this year, even while the former couple still live together.

On the red carpet last night (October 21st), Christine told the Daily Mail that she had been worried to start dating after her diagnosis and the horror stories she’d heard about dating.

“I only started dating this year after I delayed it for a long time because of the worries,” she said. “It was scary hearing other people’s stories as I haven’t heard many good dating stories so I wasn’t in any rush to do it.”

Despite her nerves, Christine has been dating a “mystery” man since June, who she met through mutual friends. She revealed that neither Paddy or her children had met them yet, as it was still “early days.”

Meanwhile, Christine continues to co-parent her twins, Leo and Penelope, 10 and Felicity, 8, with her ex-husband, which has been amicable throughout their separation. All three of the children also have autism, which the model previously told Yahoo UK gives them all a “special bond”.

“Co-parenting is good, we’re both just really busy so we both just try and go in and out whenever we can,” she added. “There are times when we are at home together and times when it is just me and times when it is just him. It is kind of how it’s always been!”

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