Christine McGuinness has revealed why she’s still living with her ex Paddy, almost a year after their split.
The former couple, who called it quits last summer after 11 years of marriage, share three children together – nine-year-old twins Leo and Penelope, and seven-year-old Felicity.
Despite their breakup, Christine and Paddy have remained living together for the sake of their kids – who all have autism and rely on routine.
Speaking to new! magazine, the TV personality explained: “I’ve known Paddy for 15 years so I don’t know life without him.”
“I like slow changes, and we’re alright – we’re family.”
However, Christine insisted they won’t be living together for much longer as she said: “It’s certainly not a long-term or forever plan.”
During a previous interview, the 34-year-old shed light on their living situation.
“I want the children to be able to see Mummy and Daddy getting along so we still have family days out and live in the same home,” she said.
“We’re kind of in and out with our own busy schedules but we get on.”
“We have a bond for life with the children and I’ll always look on Patrick as family. We don’t want any dramatic changes overnight so it’s going to be a slow process moving forward.”
“We don’t really know what the future holds,” Christine continued. “Our priority is for the children to remain comfortable and happy in a loving family.”
Christine and Paddy announced their split on July 22; however, it is understood that the pair separated in June, and that Christine had been “miserable” after “spending weeks” hiding the news.
In a joint social media statement, they wrote: “We hadn’t planned on sharing this publicly until we were ready but after the lack of privacy surrounding our 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.”
“This was not an easy decision to male but we’re 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.”
“We hope this now draws a line under anymore unwanted and unnecessary intrusion into our private life.”
“Although we work in the public eye we ask kindly if you could respect our wishes for privacy on this matter. We’ll be making no further comment,” they added.
