'BORN TO INSPIRE'
Christine McGuinness ‘overwhelmed’ after fans praise documentary Unmasking My Autism
CHRISTINE McGuinness has said she's been left "overwhelmed" after she was praised for her documentary Unmasking My Autism.
The mum-of-three, whose three children Penelope and Leo, nine, and six-year-old Felicity are also autistic, thanked fans on social media today.
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"Thank you so much to each and every one of you who took time to watch my documentary last night," she started.
"The response has been incredible, very overwhelming but incredible.
"I am trying to get through as many messages as possible, you have all been so kind.. I appreciate you.
"Christine McGuinness: Unmasking my autism’ is available to watch on @bbciplayer"
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Christine's followers continued to pour praise on her, and one wrote beneath her post: "Thankyou for giving girls a voice x"
Another said: "You are born to inspire."
Emotional Christine candidly spoke about her and in 2001 and the effect it had on her family life.
While she still lives in the family home with Paddy, she watched Unmasking My Autism alone in the living room with only her social media followers for company.
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Paddy complimented his former partner for making the programme, sharing a picture of her on Instagram and writing: "Very proud of Christine for making this new documentary highlighting Autism, particularly in women. It’ll be a massive help to our daughters in years to come along with our little lad."
Model Christine parted ways with her TV presenter husband Paddy, 49, last year after 15 years together.
In the BBC production, she said she stayed in her marriage for far longer than she should have because she "doesn't like change".
Christine visited King's College London to speak about how the ADOS test, which is a standardised assessment to test autism, could be improved to spot early signs in girls.
The doctors explained that some women with autism often have a desire to be liked and therefore remain in unhealthy and violent relationships.
Christine then recalled a toxic relationship that she had before she married Top Gear presenter Paddy.
Christine admitted: “So I experienced that. I experienced that a long long time ago and I didn’t speak up.
"I wonder if I never said it because I was autistic. You know, was it me? Would a neurotypical woman have said something, was it my fault?
"But yeah, it’s something I experienced when I was a teenager and then when I met my husband that was a time where I felt very safe. And I wonder if that’s why I stayed in that relationship for 15 years."
Getting choked up, Christine broke down in tears and said: "And I know being a single woman, being a single parent is an extremely vulnerable place to be, and it petrifies me, it absolutely petrifies me but that’s life."
"Sorry I don’t want to get upset," she said as she wiped away her tears.
The doctor then asked: “Do you feel more able to have left after your diagnosis?”
Clearly emotional, Christine replied: “Yeah, because I know that I’ve stayed in a place where I was probably unhappy because it was safe and I don’t like change and ultimately I wanted to keep my family together.”
Christine said she was on a "mission" to reinvent herself following her break-up and was "shedding her old identity".
She told viewers: "I was only 19 when I met Patrick and for the last 15 years my role has been wife and mum.
"When I got diagnosed, I set out on a personal mission to figure out who I was, because I’ve played that many different roles in life and not really knowing which part of it was actually me, or who or which one was mostly me.
"So I’m clearing out because I literally had a wardrobe full of clothes to wear how I thought I was supposed to look and you’re not actually supposed to look like anything or anyone other than yourself.
"I’ve also separated with my husband in the process and I’m just, yeah, shedding I suppose, shedding my old identity, trying to figure out what my new one is."
Christine admitted that being single and dating again "petrifies" her.
"Things like my marriage for example, that’s massive. I’ve been with my husband since I was 19-years-old, so I’ve only ever had this one man in my life for 15 years," she went on.
"I can’t imagine living with anybody else, I don’t know what it’s like to date. I can’t remember being single.
"And I’ve found myself in this position now where I don’t really know what to do with it, but, then I am just going into a new chapter, I suppose, on my own, which is petrifying for someone who doesn’t like change.
"That is another journey that I’m going to have to figure out how to be single. It’s changed everything."
The model then opened up about how she is juggling her autistim and her single life and said she has been forced to take “more responsibility” since her split.
"Starting life on my own is scary - I know I struggle with making decisions and I find paperwork really overwhelming," the mum-of-three explained.
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"So I am having to learn to take more responsibility.
"As hard as it is coming to terms with this new perspective on my life, I’m lucky to have got my diagnosis."
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