Paddy McGuinness: ‘Every day our hearts break’ Presenter and wife on health admission

Paddy McGuinness and his wife Christine revealed their “hearts break every day” while watching their twins Leo and Penelope struggle with autism. Over the years, the couple, who have three children, have been learning to live with the condition, but have admitted on occasion they feel defeated by the lifelong, developmental disability.

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Paddy and Christine announced the twins’ condition on their fourth birthday and have revealed exactly what family life has been like since.

In an interview with Mirror.co.uk in 2017, Paddy said: “Some days, it feels like you’re slowly drowning.

“it’s like you’re under water desperately swimming up to get oxygen, but never getting there.”

Christine added: “Every day out hearts break.”

Paddy admitted in the interview facing life with the condition has caused a constant black cloud to hang over his happiness.

He said: “When I hear the word ‘autism’ I just feel so unhappy.

“I don’t like seeing how it affects my children. It upsets me so much seeing them getting so stressed out and frustrated.

“Every parent just wants their child to be happy and to protect them.

“I should be the happiest I have ever been with my career, family and friends, but I can honestly say I am never happy in myself now. I constantly worry about them.

“I would give up everything to take this condition away from them.”

Appearing on ITV’s Loose Women the same year, Christine spoke about her day-to-day life with Leo and Penelope as they cope with the condition.

She said: “I feel like, you know when you’re at school and you’re being pushed into what are you going to do when you leave. I didn’t know and I never really found my purpose in life until I had the children I knew I wanted to be a mum.

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“Now understanding more about autism, I know I can help them. I know I’ve got tonnes of patience, I know I can plan ahead,

“I’m quite creative in how I think slightly outside the box. I’m blessed. I’m blessed to have them.”

What is autism?

Autism affects how a person communicates and related to other people, as well as how they experience the world around them, according to National Autistic Society.

The NHS goes into detail about what an autistic person may experience.

They may:

• Find it hard to communicate and interact with other people
• Find it hard to understand how other people think or feel
• Find things like bright lights or loud noises overwhelming, stressful or uncomfortable
• Get anxious or upset about unfamiliar situations and social events
• Take longer to understand information
• Do or think the same things over and over

The health body states: “Being autistic does not mean you have an illness or disease. It means your brain works in a different way from other people.

“It’s something you’re born with or first appears when you’re very young.

“If you’re autistic, you’re autistic your whole life.

“Autism is not a medical condition with treatments or a ‘cure’. But some people need support to help them with certain things.”

If you think you or your child might be autistic, see your GP.

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