Paddy McGuinness has split from his wife, Christine, after 11 years of marriage.

Paddy McGuinness has split from wife Christine after 11 years of marriage, MailOnline can exclusively disclose.

The couple has been living “separate lives” for months, and their wedding this week was uneventful, with no posts on social media on this occasion.

Top Gear presenter Paddy, 48, and his model wife, Christine, 34, share three children, twins Penelope and Leo, eight, and Felicity, which remain their top priorities.

A source explains: “Paddy and Christine have given everything for their marriage over the years.

“Unfortunately, they made the difficult decision to leave for their young family, who will continue to be co-parents.

“It’s no secret in their close circle that these years have been tough for them as a couple, but they are still very supportive of each other and will continue to do so throughout their divorce.”

Their breakup comes four months after the couple aired their first podcast, Table Talk, Together, which discusses the realities facing families with critically ill or disabled children.

This is followed by the acclaimed BBC documentary Our Family and Autism, in which they talk for the first time in detail about raising their three children with the disease.

Former Take Me Out host Paddy admitted that he finds his diagnoses “difficult to deal with”.

He said: “The first few days when we didn’t know anything about autism were really tough.

“The children did not sleep; they would crash into loud noises and bright lights and nothing we did helped. We kept the curtains closed and did not let anyone in.’

Paddy’s biggest fear is that her children don’t realize how much they are loved because their autism has overwhelmed them with emotions.

In the documentary released in December, Christine said: “She’s been saying this about love for years and it’s not something we disagree with, but Patrick has been worried for years that kids won’t be loved.” I don’t understand.

‘I always said yes; They struggle to show it and sometimes have a hard time appreciating everything we do for them because they are autistic”.

During the documentary, Christine herself was diagnosed with autism. She admitted that she had a hard time at school, had few friends as a child, and preferred to spend time alone.

The game contestant revealed that she and Paddy spent eight years of her marriage at their home because she felt uncomfortable around people.

He said: “When I was twenty, I was eight to stay indoors and avoid contact with anyone but my husband. I just ran away from it all. I’ve never had social contact, I’ve never had real friends, so it was never a problem.

“It’s something I’ve thought about for years, and I’ve always felt different at school as well. I know something is up.

Christine met Paddy while modeling at a Liverpool tennis tournament in 2007, and the couple married three years later in a flamboyant wedding at Thornton Manor.

Their relationship seemed strained in February 2018 when Paddy was photographed arm-in-arm with former All Saints singer Nicole Appleton.

Christine spoke about the couple’s “difficult” marriage shortly after images of Paddy and Nicole, 47, seen in London’s Soho, were released.

He said in March 2018: “It’s been tough lately. I want us to spend more time together, to do things together.

“I wish he had stayed at home longer or I could have gone with him. But we are happier than ever, we made an effort.

“There were times when he had to go to work and I waved at him and then I went home and cried because I thought I wanted him to stay inside.”

In her biography, My Lifey, published last year, Paddy said in Marriage and Children that he and Christine were “opposites with no common interests”.

She explained that their relationship has survived so far because of the laughs they had together and their mutual interest in making love.

Paddy wrote: “We don’t like the same movies, TV shows or meals, we don’t go out together and we often annoy each other.

“I don’t know any of his friends and we have completely separate lives apart from the fact that we live in the same house.

“Then why are we still married ten years later? Answer: we laugh a lot and make love…