CHRISTINE McGUINNESS has revealed she is closer than ever to Paddy – even though their marriage ended four years ago.
In fact, the former model claims Paddy has even checked out the women she is dating, branding herself a “five star lesbian” in her most revealing interview to date.
Mum-of-three Christine, 38, who finalised her divorce from ex-Top Gear host Paddy, 52, in 2024, spoke of her decision to date men and women last year.
And, with the pair still living under the same roof as their three children in leafy Cheshire while they wait for it to sell, she says Paddy is fully supportive of her choice,
But now she is looking to the future — and plans to have a woman by her side as a life partner.
“I would love to have a wife one day,” Christine explains on new podcast It Started With A Kiss out today.
“Not like a legalised marriage, but like a blessing, a celebration of love.
“I’ve been there, done it, spent an absolute fortune and probably aged about ten years throughout it all.
“I don’t want to do that again.
“I would love to just be saying, ‘This is my wife.’”
Christine’s unusual set-up with Paddy means the pair juggle dating outside of the home.
“I love a double life,” Christine added.
“It’s ideal for me because I don’t want to bring somebody into my personal life too quick.
“I like the separate life.
“My family, my kids, my home is up there, then I come to London, step off that train and I can work, have fun, sleep in and I don’t need to worry about everything.”
It is the freedom of Christine’s new lifestyle, and the support of Paddy, which she says has allowed her to start again.
Although her openness with Paddy may shock some.
On the podcast Christine is asked: “Are you showing him pictures like, ‘Oh look at her, she’s fit. What do you think of her?’
And Christine tells the hosts Amy Spalding and Gareth Valentino: “There’s times where we have, yeah.”
For now Christine insists she is still dipping her toes into the dating pond and has yet to properly settle down.
“I’m just seeing how things go, just figuring it out.
“I’m trying to not plan too far ahead,” she explains.
“I’ve dabbled in people who are in the industry.
“I’ve been trying to think what really works better.
“I quite like that people that aren’t in it are usually a bit more . . . they’re happy to just take it slow and they understand that I don’t want to just put you on Instagram the next day because of my work and everything.
“So that’s usually quite nice.
“But I tend to just meet people out and about, at events and stuff.
“I’m quite lucky that I mix in circles with a lot of gay, bi, pansexuals.
“I’ve never gone too serious with anybody in the industry, it’s always been more of a fun fling type thing.
“I’ve spent time with a lot of women in sport.
“I’ve spent time with women in music.
“I’ve spent time with actresses.
“With me, I can panic and I can pause if I think of the future too much.
“So I’m just trying to enjoy the now.
“Enjoy the moment.”
Christine chose to speak about wanting to date men and women after signing up to E4 TV series Celebs Go Dating in April last year.
It came after Christine and Paddy announced their separation in 2022.
At the time, the pair released the news in a joint statement and said: “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’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.”
The couple first crossed paths in 2007 at the Liverpool International Tennis Tournament when Christine was working as a model for boutique shop Cricket.
Months later they started dating and in June 2011 they married at Thornton Manor in Cheshire.
After being married for just over a decade, Christine said it was her late diagnosis with autism that gave her the courage to admit their marriage was not working.
She documented her diagnosis in a BBC documentary, Unmasking My Autism, in 2023 and said at the time: “Starting life on my own is scary, I struggle making decisions.
“I was only 19 when I met Patrick and for the last 15 years my role has been wife and mum.
“When I was diagnosed, I set out on a journey to find out who I was.
“I have separated from my husband in the process, I’m shedding my old identity and finding out who I am.
“I’ve only ever had this one man in my life, I don’t know what it is like to date.
“I can’t imagine being single or with another man.
“But I’m going into a new chapter on my own which is petrifying for someone who doesn’t like change.”
Two years later, she started to date both men and women and now says she has found her type.
“I’m a sucker for a stud and a masc,” Christine explained, suggesting she prefers more masculine women.
“I swear they come for me.
“This one date, well, it wasn’t a date, it was when I did the whole hotel thing and not the whole date thing.
“Because I didn’t want to ever just meet someone and it just be sex, but then kind of did find myself in a place in life where I was like, ‘Do you know what? I actually do just want to do that.’
“I’ve been married, I’ve had situationships, I was single, I was celibate for six months, and with all of that, I just had a moment of, ‘Do you know what, I wouldn’t mind just meeting up with someone and just seeing how it goes.’
“So I got to this hotel and I’m thinking, ‘This is just sex, it’s fine.’
“She was very, very beautiful, like that perfect, pretty, handsome, like masc stud type woman, really gorgeous, dark skin, like she had everything.”
Christine adds: “We’re just chatting away and she said that she was a Gold Star Lesbian.
“So I’m like, love that, love a Gold Star Lesbian.
“I went, ‘Stop . . . because you might be a Gold Star Lesbian, but I’m a Five Star Lesbian.’”
Of her first kiss, Christine is just as open, saying: “The first time I kissed a woman, again after my husband and no disrespect to him, it had been a while.
“I remember that first kiss just being so soft and so nice and so feminine.
“I knew I always felt it and it wasn’t something that I was worried about never doing again because when I married, I married for life, genuinely.
“But I was really happy that I was doing it again.
“And I’m really happy that now I am dating women again and that I am having fun.
“I’ve got some of the best stories, some of the wildest memories, like the craziest experiences that only I and one other person would ever know.”
During the episode of It Started With A Kiss, Christine said she has drawn the line at introducing a partner to her children early.
Joking that women in same sex relationships move forward quicker when it comes to love, Christine says: “It’s two weeks and you’re moving in, you’ve got a cat and a flat . . .
“For us two, if we ever end up in something where it progresses and it turns into a relationship and then they want to live with you or whatever.
“I don’t want any more children because a lot of the women that I meet usually don’t have children and they want children, whereas I’ve had them.
“So that’s something that I try to be honest about at the beginning to anybody that I’m even talking to.”
Of settling down for good, Christine says neither she or Paddy are in a rush.
She adds: “We know it’s going to take a while because we’ve got children.
“Going back home, we both kind of get that reality check of we can’t just go and move in with somebody just yet.
“But we’ll talk, we’ll have a laugh, we don’t go into too much detail about anything.”
- Christine’s full interview on It Started With A Kiss is available on YouTube and all podcast platforms now