Yahoo News Christine McGuinness reveals family holiday plans to help amid marriage difficulties with Paddy
Christine McGuinness has said she and husband Paddy are making their children their focus as they prepare to share a family holiday together.
The reality TV star and the Top Gear presenter - who are parents to nine-year-old twins Leo and Penelope and six-year-old daughter Felicity - have been the subject of resent speculation that their marriage is in difficulty.
Christine, 34, told Lorraine: "I think marriages just go through ups and downs anyway.
Read more: Christine McGuinness breaks her silence amid rumours of marriage trouble
"I think all marriages - especially long ones like ours - it's not always going to be plain sailing but we're trying to deal with things as privately as possible."
She added: "We just want to be there to support the children and have an amazing summer.
"We're going away on a family holiday next week and we're really excited. They're always going to be our focus."
Rumours began circulating the couple's relationship was in trouble after they both enjoyed separate trips abroad, with Paddy, 48, travelling to Thailand to film Top Gear and Christine going to Croatia with friends.
She told guest presenter Carol Vorderman: "I've never been on a girls' holiday before. I knew that I was going to feel anxious before I left. I had the best time, I saw a waterfall, I've never seen a water fall ever in my life - it was beautiful."
Fans also recently spotted Paddy had a tattoo that was a tribute to his wife removed.
The heart-shaped marking was on his ring finger but seemed to have disappeared in a recent video that he shared on social media.
The couple met when Christine was a teenager and married in 2011.
Christine has said: “I’m feeling really quite raw and all over the place. I can’t deny we are having a very, very difficult time...
"You know, that family bond will always be there no matter what but yeah, I was a teenager when I met him and I’m a 34-year-old woman now, so I suppose what I might have put up with in the past, I probably wouldn’t put up with now and same for him."
The couple's children are all on the autistic spectrum and Christine has also received an adult diagnosis of autism.
They spoke about the effects on their family in a documentary last year.
And Paddy confessed when his children were diagnosed with autism he developed clinical depression as his worries about them spiralled out of control.
He said: “It chipped away at me, with all of the things you have to do, things you have to deal with as a parent of children with autism. It dawned on me that, that’s it, that’s it forever. There’s no ‘they’ll get better as the years go on’.
“I wasn’t unhappy for me. I was just stressed with the whole thing but I worked my BS [backside] off because I thought the only thing I can do for these kids is give them a life where they’re as comfortable as possible.
Read more: Christine McGuinness reveals ADHD diagnosis
"What I should have been thinking is I need to give them as much love as I can. It’s more about having time with them. I realise that now.”
Watch: Christine McGuinness admits her autism diagnosis has changed her
