Christine McGuinness opens up about her autism diagnosis

33-year-old model Christine McGuinness has revealed that she was diagnosed with autism as an adult, during the filming of her and husband Paddy’s new TV show.

Christine and Paddy are proud parents to three children, eight-year-old twins Penelope and Leo, and five-year-old Felicity, all of whom have also been diagnosed with the condition.

“We always thought it was genetic and it didn’t come as a shock to me that I got diagnosed,” she explained in an interview with OK! Magazine, adding, “When I was writing my autobiography, I could see so many similarities between me and my children that it was pretty evident.”

In Christine’s memoir, Christine McGuinness: A Beautiful Nightmare, she explains that this new diagnosis now makes a lot of sense, when thinking back on her childhood eating disorder and her struggles with socialising in school.

“I found school really overwhelming and the way people would hang around in little groups and make friendships, and I wasn’t really a part of anything. I was always quite a loner. I found the social side of school really difficult,” Christine told the publication.

Opening up about how she finally got diagnosed after all these years, Christine said that she and Paddy “always had this question hanging over us, as to why we’ve got three autistic children. We always thought it was genetic and it didn’t come as a shock to me that I got diagnosed during filming. I recognised the traits in myself and my husband did, but it wasn’t something we’d discussed an awful lot.”

“I hide it so well. I’m high-functioning, I work, I’ve got a husband and children.”

Continuing, Christine said, “The best part of getting a diagnosis for me is that when I talk to the children about their autism, because we haven’t spoke to them about it yet, I’ll be able to tell them that Mummy’s doing OK and Mummy’s autistic too, and they’re just a bit like me.”

Trending