Paddy McGuinness gushes over ‘hero’ wife Christine as she campaigns for autism awareness
20 April 2019, 17:40
The Take Me Out presenter posts a sweet snap of his daughters watching their mum on TV and encourages her to "keep up the good work"
Paddy McGuinness couldn’t contain his pride this weekend as he paid tribute to his “hero” wife, Christine, who went on TV to speak about the struggles of raising children with autism.
The comedian, 45, shared a series of sweet snaps on Instagram showing daughters Penelope and Felicity watching their mum in her role as an autism campaigner on BBC Breakfast.
Captioning the adorable moment, he wrote: “My two baby girls watching their hero @mrscmcguinness on @bbcbreakfast this morning.
“We love you Mummy, keep up the good work. #mummy #hero #bbcbreakfast #autismawareness #bluebadge #goodfriday #twinkleball.”
"Our babies," Christine commented underneath.
The couple’s five-year-old twins, Penelope and Leo, both have autism. Their third child, Felicity, 3, hasn’t been affected by the condition.
During her appearance, Christine said she’s faced much prejudice as a parent of autistic kids.
The 31-year-old explained that strangers have approached her in the street asking to see a Blue Badge when she’s parked in a disabled bay.
She said: “Nine out of ten times I'll be questioned on why I'm parked there, am I entitled to use that badge, which one [of the twins] is disabled, and I've found myself having to calmly explained that actually my children are autistic and you might not be able to see it, but if I wasn't parked here we'd be in a different situation right now.
Christine continued: "They're not comfortable being approached by complete strangers so that makes it even worse. It's just so hard because this isn't something we want, it's something we need. It's not a golden ticket, I don't want to be using these spaces, I need it for the safety of my children.
"It makes a huge difference, we've only had it for six months but we've got so many hospital appointments it just makes it a lot easier to park there.
"It's a lot safer for the children. My children don't have much sense of danger at all when it comes to road safety, so they might freeze in the middle of the car park, or they might just run. Other people might look at them and think, 'that child's being naughty', or 'woman, control your children.'"
