INTERVIEW
Reality star Christine McGuinness chats to Closer about how she’s thriving and learning more about herself following her split from husband Paddy
Two years on from the high-profile split from husband of 11 years Paddy McGuinness, Christine McGuinness is, by her own admission, better than ever and happily single.
Christine, 35, tells Closer, “My life’s full of love with my children. I’m very, very lucky, my heart is full. I don’t feel like I’m missing anything at all. And now, I think it’s very important that I have some time on my own. I met Patrick when I was 19, and I’m 35 now – I don’t know any different than to share my life with somebody else. I’m going to share it with my children of course, and Patrick’s always going to be around as the father of my children, but I want to have time on my own.”
AMICABLE
Paddy, 50, and The Real Housewives Of Cheshire star met back in 2007 when Christine was working as a model. They got engaged on Christmas Eve two years later and tied the knot in June 2011. Plagued by cheating rumours throughout their marriage, their split in July 2022 came shortly after Paddy was hit by claims that he had kissed “a fellow TV star” behind Christine’s back.
While the pair’s split appeared relatively amicable at first, with the former couple continuing to live together in order to co-parent their three children – twins Leo and Penelope, 10, and daughter Felicity, seven – their divorce battle has turned messy in recent months. Christine has reportedly hired no-nonsense family lawyer Catherine Bedford, nicknamed The Pitbull, who represented Lisa Armstrong during her divorce from Ant McPartlin.
SUPPORTED
Last month a source admitted, “The gloves are off, Christine was good to Paddy, she stayed at home and brought up his children while he was out earning money. It’s going to be an expensive divorce for Paddy. Christine has had enough.”
And now Christine reveals that she will always prioritise her children, calling motherhood her main motivator in life.
She explains, “If you’ve got any kind of responsibility with little ones, you’re always going to have that worry of, ‘If I’m not here, who’s going to look after them?’ I think more so if you’ve got children with additional needs. We don’t have a lot of people around, we haven’t got a lot of family and I do worry.
“I think it’s natural as a parent to feel like that. I’m just trying to not let it keep me awake at night anymore. Part of my job now is to raise these children to be as independent as possible. So that one day, when I do go, they’ll be able to look after themselves and shower an
