Paddy and Christine McGuinness have announced they are separating after 11 years of marriage.
Although they say they made the decision “a while ago”, they say they will still live together with their three children at the family home in Cheshire.
They released a joint statement on their Instagram Stories, which read: “We didn’t plan to share this publicly until we were ready, but after the lack of privacy surrounding our personal lives, we felt we had no choice but to clarify .
“Some time ago we made the difficult decision to separate, but our main goal, as always, is to continue to love and support our children. It was not an easy decision to make, but we are moving forward as the best parents we can we can be for our three beautiful children we will always be a loving family we still have a great relationship and still live happily in our home.
“We hope this now draws a line against unwanted and unnecessary intrusion into our private lives. Although we work in public, we kindly ask if you can respect our privacy wishes on this matter. We will not comment.”
They signed the message: “Lots of love. Paddy and Christine.”
The Top Gear presenter and model are parents to twins Leo and Penelope, nine, and Felicity, six. All three children have autism, and Christine was later diagnosed with the condition.
In December 2021, the couple spoke openly about life with autism in the BBC documentary Our Family And Autism.
Image: The former couple announced their separation on social media. Image: Instagram/@mcguinness.paddy/@mrscmcguinness
The couple first met in 2007 at a tennis tournament in Liverpool, where Christine was working as a model, and married four years later at Thornton Manor in Cheshire.
Comedian and actor Peter Kay, who starred alongside Paddy in Phoenix Nights and Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere, was his best man.
In 2018, Paddy revealed that he had been diagnosed with arthritis aged 44.
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As well as a successful acting career, Paddy’s presenting work has flourished over the years, from Take Me Out to Top Gear and most recently taking over from Sue Barker as presenter of A Question Of Sport.
Christine joined the cast of Real Housewives Of Cheshire in 2019 after previously appearing on the reality show as a friend. He left the show the following year.