Paddy McGuinness and his wife Christine say their children are not aware that they have autism.
All three of Paddy and Christine’s children have autism, with Christine herself recently being diagnosed with autism.
The Top Gear presenter, 48, and model, 33, share twins Leo and Penelope, eight, and five-year-old Felicity.
They have just launched their new podcast Table Talk following the release of research showing almost half of all UK families say they are unaware of the challenges faced by families raising a disabled or seriously ill child.
Paddy and Christine want to use their podcast as a way of ‘shining a spotlight on everyday highs and lows’ these families face, drawing on their own experiences.
Speaking on the first episode of the six-part series, Take Me Out host Paddy connected with a mum whose son is autistic, before revealing he hasn’t yet had that conversation with his own children because they are ‘happy enough’ for now.
Sharing that his twins are oblivious to their autism, Paddy said: ‘Our eldest children are both eight, and we’ve not mentioned it to them yet.
‘Not for any other reason, but we just feel as though they are happy as they are at the minute. It might be a bit much for them, so we are kind of picking our moment with them.’
Christine continued that she doesn’t know ‘if there is a right time’ to tell them, before their guest reassured them it’s about ‘what works for you.’
Paddy and Christine’s podcast – which is set around a virtual dinner table and meets a new family each week, taking on a different topic – comes after the success of their documentary.
Their BBC show, titled Paddy and Christine McGuinness: Our Family And Autism, sees the comic confess his fears of his children not understanding how much he loves them.
In the doc – which was praised by viewers for being ‘wonderfully honest and emotional’ – the TV star choked back tears, saying: ‘What gets to me with them all, and it’s only how I think, I think, “Will they ever know how loved they are? Do they understand what love is?”
‘When I’m with Leo every night in bed I will say to him, “Who loves you more than anything in the world?” He’ll say, “You do.” Then I’ll go, “Do you love Daddy?” and he’ll go, “Yeah.”‘
‘But I think to myself, “Is he just saying that, or does he know that?”‘
The married couple admitted they weer nervous for the documentary to air, but couldn’t have been more thankful for the outpouring of support that followed, saying it ‘means the world.’
Table Talk is available to listen to now on all podcast streaming platforms.
You can read this post on My Celebrity Life.