Christine McGuinness has revealed the heartbreaking conversation she had with one of her daughters during the pandemic, in which the youngster said, “I don’t want to live anymore.”
The reality TV star shares three children with husband and former Take Me Out host Paddy McGuinness; nine-year-old twins Leo and Penelope, and five-year-old daughter Felicity.
All three youngsters, as well as Christine, has been diagnosed with autismmeaning they may find it difficult to communicate with or understand others.
Christine, 34, has revealed how her eldest daughter Penelope is particularly sensitive and “doesn’t understand her emotions very well.”
As a result, Penelope struggled to understand why things had changed at her school when social distancing measures were taken at the height of the Covid pandemic.
“When the schools reopened, her teacher wasn’t allowed to hug her if she was upset and she didn’t understand,” explains Christine. to The Sun’s Fabulous magazine.
“They were in bubbles and weren’t allowed to play with the friends they were playing with, so Penelope was like, ‘She doesn’t like me anymore.’
“She took it very personally. And she said, ‘Mama, I don’t want to live anymore. I want to go to heaven’.’
Probably because of her young age and autism, Christine explained that Penelope “was unable to comprehend the gravity of what she was saying,” but naturally found her statement “so concerning.”
The Real Housewives of Cheshire star added: ‘The panic for me of, ‘What if she does something not understanding that thing is forever?’
“It was a heartbreaking time and probably one of the hardest conversations I’ll ever have in my life.”
Christine has been open about her personal life in recent weeks and has also admitted that she and husband Paddy has been going through a ‘hard time’ in their marriage.
Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, she said: ‘I think marriages go up and down. I think all marriages, especially long ones like ours, are together for 15 years.
“It won’t always be smooth sailing, but we try to keep it as private as possible and we both want to be there to support the kids and give them a great summer.”
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