Christine McGuinness has revealed how she hid her autistic tendencies from husband Paddy and how it has affected her relationship with him.

The 33-year-old model and activist was only recently diagnosed with the condition – which can impact communication and learning behaviours for those who are affected by it.

Looking back on her life, Christine now realises that a lot of her past difficulties and “odd” behaviour is down to her autism – a condition that the three children she share with her 48-year-old husband have previously been diagnosed with.

On Monday, Christine appeared on Loose Women where she discussed her life with the condition and how she is looking at her past differently now that she knowns she grew up with autism.

Christine McGuinness has discussed how having autism has affected her relationship with husband Paddy (
Image:
ITV)

She said she feels like she has had to “learn how to behave” and that she has had to learn to understand jokes and comedy – something that may have been extra difficult for her considering she is married to and “living with a comedian”.

She admits she would often be “pretending to laugh” and that she would wait for other people to laugh to understand that a joke had been told.

Opening up further about her condition and how it has affected her relationship with Paddy, she admits she would hide some of the affects of her condition from him.

Christine discussed her life with autism on Loose Women on Monday (
Image:
ITV)

She explained: “I didn’t realise I do that in front of my husband as well. There are things I do that he’s got no idea about. The hotel rooms in particular.

“I’ve always been afraid to say it out loud because I know it seems odd and it seems different. Or if I go to a hotel room I will rearrange the furniture, I’ll take pictures off the wall. I’d like a really plain room.

“There’s a hotel in London that I really like because it’s just a plain white room. There’s no distractions. I don’t like busy carpets or busy curtains. I just like everything quite plain.”

Christine and husband Paddy McGuinness were tested for autism earlier this year (
Image:
WireImage)
Christine and Paddy are parents to twins Leo and Penelope and younger daughter Felicity (
Image:
Christine McGuinness / A Beautiful Nightmare)

Christine continued: “We had our first date night in over two years, because, you know, we find it difficult to leave the children.

“We went to the Pride of Britain Awards a couple of weeks ago and as soon as we walked into the hotel there was so much that I wanted to move with the cushions and everything. It was all ‘busy’. The carpet was really busy.

“But I just walked in and kind of looked around and said nothing and stayed quiet because… it is exhausting. And then going to the awards itself, I’ve become really good now at going in and smiling and saying hi to everyone and I do think there is part of me that is enjoying it now.

“Now that I’m doing it more and more, it’s becoming easier and I’m pushing myself to do it because I want my children to go out and have fun and I don’t want autism to hold any of us back.”

Christine has revealed all about her diagnosis in her new autobiography – titled Christine McGuinness: A Beautiful Nightmare.

In the book, she suggests Paddy suspected she had autism as they realised a lot of their children’s characteristic behaviours were also present in her.

Christine opens up about her family life and autism diagnosis in her autobiography, A Beautiful Nightmare (
Image:
Christine McGuinness / A Beautiful Nightmare)
The model explains how she was diagnosed in her book (
Image:
James Rudland)

She writes: “I wasn’t sure how he’d react, but when I told him he said he expected it and he’d suspected I was autistic for years – he never thought to tell me.

“Patrick was always conscious that I was a bit different and had my little quirks, but he never understood exactly what it was. There are times when he gets really frustrated with me, for example when it takes me hours to get ready.

“Not even when I’m getting fully glammed up, but simple things like picking between two plain T-shirts, and not being able to decide which one to wear.”

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