STAYING STRONG - ‘I ALWAYS FELT LIKE I DIDN'T FIT IN I ALWAYS FELT DIFFERENT'

CHRISTINE McGUINNESS OPENS UP EXCLUSIVELY TO OK! ABOUT HAVING HER HIDDEN DISABILITY CONFIRMED AGED AND TAKING POSITIVES FROM EVERY TRAUMA SHE’S SUFFERED

- GEMMA McCARTNEY

For years, Christine McGuinness and husband Paddy had questioned why all three of their children are autistic. So suspecting there could be a genetic link, they had assessments during filming for their forthcoming BBC documentary, Autism And Our Family – which confirmed the 33-year-old former model also has the condition.

Speaking to us ahead of the release of her tell-all autobiography, A Beautiful Nightmare, Christine opens up about her diagnosis for the first time, explaining she had long had a feeling she was autistic because of her hang-ups around eating and her struggles with socialising.

“We always thought it was genetic and it didn’t come as a shock to me that I got diagnosed,” she says. “When I was writing my autobiography, I could see so many similarities between me and my children that it was pretty evident.”

Other topics covered in Christine’s memoir include her difficult childhood, her struggles to conceive due to the knock-on effects of her anorexia, and the highs and lows of her marriage. These include her heartbreak when pictures of TV presenter and comic Paddy, 48, walking arm in arm with another woman during a boozy night out went viral in 2018.

Despite this “difficult” time, the couple – who live in Cheshire and share twins Penelope and Leo, eight, and five-year-old Felicity – are now stronger than ever. She tells us, “I’m so happy we stayed together.”

Here, Christine opens up about adjusting to life as a registered autism sufferer, challenging the stigma around the hidden disability and taking strength from every trauma she’s endured...