Paddy and Christine McGuinness have SPLIT as they open up about ‘difficult decision’

PADDY and Christine McGuinness have separated after 15 years together, they both announced today.

The pair each posted identical statements on Instagram where they opened up about the "difficult decision".

In a joint statement signed off with a kiss, Christine, 34, and Paddy, 48, said they aimed to be the "best parents they could be".

The pair have three children - twins Leo and Penelope, eight, and Felicity, five.

They wrote: "We hadn't planned on sharing this publicly until we were ready but after the lack of privacy surrounding our life 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 make but we are 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."

They added: "We hope this now draws a line under anymore unwanted 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."

Paddy and Christine concluded: "We'll be making no further comments" before adding their names with a kiss.

The statement comes as the pair took a £10k-a-week treehouse family holiday to Center Parks in Notts.

They were forced at the last minute to scrap a booked holiday to Spain after realising their daughter's passport had expired.

Rumours the pair's relationship was on the rocks have persisted for weeks.

They recently went on separate holidays, with Paddy jetting to Portugal, while Christine “followed her heart” and went to Croatia.

She told The Sun this month: 'I can’t deny right now is a very, very difficult time for us. I’m feeling really quite raw and all over the place.”

Former model Christine was 19 when she met Paddy at the Liverpool International Tennis Tournament in 2007.

The pair struck up a relationship and married at Thornton Manor on the Wirral in 2011.

They went on to have three children who were autistic and spoke about the subject in a moving film called Paddy and Christine McGuinness: Our Family and Autism last year.