Model Christine McGuinness has spoken out about moving on after her split from husband of 11 years, Top Gear host Paddy, and said she finds the thought of going on dates "petrifying". The 35-year-old and her ex split in July 2022 and she feels the fact that the pair were friends first helped her feel comfortable in the early days of dating.
“The thought of dating is actually my worst nightmare,” she told MirrorOnline “I’ve just never really done it. When I met my husband, we were friends first. I think that helped, it worked because I never had that pressure of, ‘What do I wear? Where do I go? What is the food going to be like? Will I like the restaurant?’"
Christine, who has autism, adds: “It’s sensory for me. A typical date, from what my friends would say, is you go for dinner, or you might have some drinks. I don’t drink and I don’t really enjoy eating in different places with people that I don’t know. Once I’m comfortable with someone, that’s lovely. But I don’t know how I am supposed to get to that point. The idea of dating, for me, is petrifying.”
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Christine, who made well-received documentary about her autism, Unmasking My Autism, split with Paddy after being together for more than a decade and they share three children together all of whom are autistic. Christine and Paddy previously made the BBC documentary Our Family And Autism about their children’s autism.
And although Christine has had offers of dates, via Instagram DMs, she says she's "calm and peaceful" right now and keeping busy co-parenting the kids and filming appearances on shows like Celebrity Hunted.
“Nothing has really changed,” she adds. “I don’t feel like a young, free and single person. Life’s good. I’m just very calm and peaceful and I don’t want anything to disturb that right now.”
