Christine McGuinness has admitted her daughter Penelope told her she 'didn't want to live' after the pandemic.
The Games star, 34, shares three children with Top Gear Paddy McGuinness, 48, - all of whom have autism.
Christine, who was diagnosed with the condition herself last year, explained that when Penelope went back to school after the pandemic, she struggled to adjust to the new rules.
Revealing that the nine-year-old was a "very sensitive little girl", the star said her daughter's teacher wasn't able to give her a cuddle when she was upset - something Penelope couldn't understand,
"They were in bubbles and not allowed to play with the friends they used to play with, so Penelope felt like: ‘She doesn’t like me any more,'" Christine explained.
“She took it very personally. And she said: ‘Mummy, I don’t want to live any more. I want to go to heaven.’
"It was a heartbreaking time and probably one of the most difficult conversations I will ever have in my life,” reports The Sun.
The Real Housewives of Cheshire candidly shared her fears for her daughter, explaining there was a sense of "panic" because she couldn't understand the severity of what she was saying.
The family have had to adjust since the children's autism diagnosis, with Christine admitting they struggle to go on holiday.
She explained they'd only ever had one foreign family holiday, to Spain in 2019, which they took a year to prepare for.
The blonde beauty took the kids to an airfield every week to get used to the sound of planes, as well as a play centre to walk in sand.
However, the family have recently been away following reports that Paddy and Christine's marriage was in crisis.
The mum-of-three admitted things had been difficult between the pair, saying it wasn't her who put them in "this position".
However, last week she told Carol Vorderman, who was standing in for Lorraine Kelly on Lorraine, the gang were off on a much-needed break.
She said: "I think marriages just go through ups and downs anyway. 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.
"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."
