Christine McGuinness gets “extremely hyper emotional” if she’s “sad” due to her ADHD and autism.

Christine McGuinness gets ‘extremely hyper emotional’ if she’s ‘sad’ due to her ADHD and autism

Christine McGuinness gets ‘extremely hyper emotional’ if she’s ‘sad’ due to her ADHD and autism

The TV personality, 45, was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder in 2021 and assessed as autistic aged 33, and she says it has led to her “understanding” herself.

She told ‘The Doctor Will Hear You Now’ podcast with host Dr Zoe Williams: “It’s quite common to get a double diagnosis when you're autistic, you could potentially be autistic and ADHD, or autistic and dyspraxic, or dyslexic, it is quite common to get that double barrel.

“For me, I didn’t understand how I could be ADHD, because again, you Google or you see people, and you have this image of what you think ADHD is going to be like, and I didn’t fit in that bracket.

“I’m an inattentive ADHD, which is different to the typical hyperactive ADHD person that you might see and recognise more often. So, for me, when I’m inattentive, I can be quite distant, I live in my own little bubble.

“It goes quite naturally with my autism, it overlaps and it’s quite similar, but then I have moments where I am extremely hyperactive in my thoughts, in the creative side, in my feelings, in my emotions.

“I will be extremely hyper emotional if I'm sad: it can be the end of the world, to the point where I think, I can’t cope, I can’t do this anymore, even having suicidal thoughts.

“It can go that far, and that’s where the hyper side is for me. On the plus side, if I’m happy, it’s the best thing in the world, and nothing can ruin your day, and it can be from the tiniest little thing.”

Christine’s three children – twins Penelope and Leo, nine, and seven-year-old Felicity – are also autistic.

She has them with her ex-husband Paddy McGuinness, 49, to whom she was married for 11 years before they split in July 2022.

Christine added about the impact on her life of learning about her disorders: “From my own experience, it’s completely changed my life.

“I’m doing so much more now since my diagnosis. I understand myself so much more. I understand people in the world so much more than I ever did. I didn’t get it before.

“I stayed in, I was a recluse for almost eight years, I barely left the house. I wouldn’t be doing the events and the jobs and the stuff that I’m doing now if I did not have that diagnosis. So it is very, very important.”

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