Paddy and Christine McGuinness have confirmed they have split after arriving back from a UK break with their children. Earlier today (Friday, July 22) Paddy took to Instagram with a smiling selfie of the pair, who have been married for 11 years.
It was the first time the pair had been seen publicly together since Christine admitted to them experiencing a 'very difficult' time in their marriage. The pair each posted statements on Instagram where they opened up about the "difficult decision".
They wrote: "We hadn't planned on sharing this publicly until we were ready but after the lack of privacy surrounding our life personal life, we feel left with no other option but to clarify. A while ago we took the difficult decision to separate but our main focus as always is to continue loving and supporting our children.
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"This was not an easy decision to make but we are moving forward as the best parents we can be for our three beautiful children. We'll always be a loving family, we still have a great relationship and still live happily in our family home together."
They went on: "We hope this now draws a line under anymore unwanted intrusion into our our private life. Although we work in the public eye we ask kindly if you could respect our wishes for privacy on this matter."
Paddy and Christine then concluded: "We'll be making no further comments." Earlier this month former model Christine spoke to the press about her 11-year marriage after rumours of a split began to swirl. Speculation about the couple's relationship arose when Paddy wasn't seen publicly supporting his wife during her stint on ITV’s The Games before the pair went on separate trips.
Christine headed off on her first girls holiday with Chelcee Grimes after the pair bonded during their appearance on the sporting competition show while Paddy headed off to Thailand to film for Top Gear.
Christine told The Sun: "I can’t deny we are having a very, very difficult time." She added: "It’s just — we’ve been together 15 years, 11 years married: we are gonna have ups and downs — but this situation at the minute — I don’t want to go into it too much but I will just say that I didn’t cause this situation."
The Top Gear host and former The Real Housewives of Cheshire star met back while Christine was doing a fashion show for Cricket at a Liverpool Tennis Tournament. The couple share three children – twins Penelope and Leo, nine, and Felicity, six.
Last year, Christine bravely revealed she had been diagnosed as autistic - just like all three of her children. She told the Manchester Evening News in November that her diagnosis came as 'such a huge relief.'
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