Paddy McGuinness and Christine McGuinness announced they were calling time on their 11-year marriage last year but the former couple have decided to stay living together with their three children.
The Top Gear presenter and model share three autistic children, twins Penelope and Leo, 9, and Felicity, 7.
Christine opened up on her unusual home life in an exclusive interview with Mirror as she helped to launch Vanish's new campaign Me, My Autism & I – in partnership with charity, Ambitious about Autism and the model, who was diagnosed with autism at the late age of 33.
The TV star revealed Paddy is still the first person she'd go to for advice as she reflected on her work raising awareness and supporting autistic people.
She said: "We talk an awful lot. I was with Patrick from when I was 19 years old so for 15 years I’ve pretty much grown up with them and obviously, he's been in the industry for a long time.
"We are very close, we’re family no matter what. It’s amazing he’s there if and when I need him and the same the other way around.
"If he needed any advice from me, I'm not really sure what I can advise him on, maybe stuff with the children but he could always ask me. If I got lost on the motorway he’d be the first person I’d call."
Reflecting on their split, she continued: "It is what it is but we are we are family, we are still living together. It's not a long term plan but for now, that really works.
"I think especially whilst we're both so busy, we don't want to change anything at home. We just keep it on a rota so that he's at home when I'm away and when’s away I’m at home and that works for us."
Vanish launched a new campaign with Ambitious about Autism, to raise awareness of autism and show the importance of clothing lasting longer to autistic people.
The campaign shines a light on the stories of 12 autistic girls and non-binary people and their must-have items. It includes a film directed by Tom Hooper and a free exhibition at the Oxo Gallery.
Speaking about the campaign, Christine said: "I struggled with autism for the majority of my life without realising but there was something consistently present; I didn’t like change. It’s something I noticed from the clothes I was wearing to the routines I was keeping. Every autistic person is unique but for many of us, change is a big deal and clothing can make or break the day-to-day for some autistic people when we rely on it for consistency and familiarity.
"I have a grey hoodie which is particularly important to me because of the way the sleeves pull over my hands to comfort me, and because it has a deep hood which is perfect to hide into when it gets too noisy while travelling.”
To find out more about Ambitious about Autism and why Making Clothes Last Really Matters, visit https://www.vanish.co.uk/autism
