Christine McGuinness is among the brave celebrities stripping off on ITV’s Strictly The Real Full Monty tonight.
She’s joined by the likes of Love Island’s Teddy Soares and James Jordan on the hit show.
Christine has seen her media profile gradually rise, after marrying TV comedian and presenter Paddy McGuinness.
And earlier this month they fronted the moving documentary Our Family and Autism on BBC One.
The couple have three children under eight who have all been diagnosed with autism.
Earlier this year, doctors also diagnosed Christine with the condition.
But there’s also a lot more to the mum-of-three, who has survived a very difficult early start in life.
The former nightclub dancer endured childhood abuse, being raped as a teenager and living with a heroin-addict dad…
Here’s everything you need to know about the inspirational Christine McGuinness.
Read more: Paddy McGuinness reveals that he’s worried about kids when he’s ‘not here anymore’
What is Christine McGuinness famous for?
Christine McGuinness is undoubtedly most famous for being the wife of TV star Paddy.
However, she had found some fame of her own before meeting her husband to be.
Christine, from Halewood, had won several beauty pageants during her teenager years.
She went on to become a model and featured in the Chester Model Girl competition in 2005.
In 2007, she was crowned Miss Commonwealth, and won the Miss Liverpool title at the age of 18.
It was during a fashion show for Cricket at the Liverpool Tennis Tournament that she met Paddy.
After they wed, Christine went on to appear on the Real Housewives of Cheshire for three years.
How old is Paddy McGuinness’ wife Christine McGuinness and what’s the age gap?
Paddy is 15 years older than Christine.
Christine is currently 33, while Paddy is 48.
The pair met when she was 19 and he was 34.
Read more: Paddy McGuinness breaks down in tears in trailer for BBC autism documentary
Paddy McGuinness wife Christine McGuinness – when did they marry?
Gameshow host Paddy McGuinness is married to wife Christine, neé Martin.
They wed on June 04 2011.
Christine was 19 when she met her husband through a mutual friend.
At the time, she was earning a living modelling and “dancing on podiums in nightclubs, in cages”.
In 2009, Paddy popped the question on Christmas Day.
The family now live in an affluent Cheshire village near Alderley Edge.
Christine has revealed that Paddy was her first proper relationship.
She said: “I never really had a relationship other than with my husband.”
Paddy and Christine’s children and autism diagnosis
Paddy McGuinness and his wife Christine have three children – eight-year-old twins Leo and Penelope and five-year-old Felicity.
All three of the McGuinness children have autism.
Christine was diagnosed with the same condition in August 2021.
Her diagnosis came while the pair were making a documentary about their children’s autism, hoping to raise awareness of the condition and perceptions of it.
“My diagnosis has been a huge relief,” she told The Times.
“Now it all makes sense – why I do certain things, why I am the way I am.
“I always knew there was something different about me.”
Christine McGuinness’ traumatic past
In May 2017, Christine revealed she had thought about ending her life while battling an eating disorder as a child.
In response to comments from a troll branding her “too skinny” Christine decided to open up about her battle.
She said: “From 13 to 18, I suffered from an eating disorder that was close to anorexia and I know how awful it is.
“I worried my mum sick, I was exhausted, my periods stopped and doctors said there might be future problems with my fertility and I had to take iron tablets.
“I’d lie and say I’d eaten when I hadn’t to avoid family meals and being a model I was keen to keep up with all the other girls.”
She now admits her fussy eating from the age of eight was a symptom of her undiagnosed autism.
Christine also revealed she hasn’t drunk alcohol since she was 19 because she realised that doing so wasn’t going to get her what she wanted.
She said: “My dad’s a heroin addict, so I’ve seen the really bad side to it.
“I think I was using it as a coping mechanism from when I was 13 or 14, and I knew that wasn’t how I wanted to continue.”
Her mum brought Christine and her siblings up alone on a council estate in Halewood, after one-year-old Christine crawled over a discarded needle.
In her autobiography A Beautiful Nightmare: My Story, Christine reveals she was sexually abused by a family friend between the ages of 9 and 13.
Tragically, she also says she was raped at a party when she was 13, and bullied at school.
She dropped out of school when she was 14, and five years later met her husband.
Strictly The Real Full Monty airs on Monday, December 13 2021 at 9pm on ITV.
Did you watch Paddy and Christine McGuinness: Our Family and Autism earlier this month? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.