The Real Housewives of Cheshire star unpacks her autism diagnosis and how it has affected other parts of her life over the years in BBC documentary Christine McGuinness: Unmasking My Autism.
In it, she traces the link between her condition, her childhood eating disorder, teenage sexual abuse and her marriage to Top Gear presenter Paddy McGuinness.
The pair, who share three children together who are also diagnosed with autism, separated last summer after 15 years together.
At one point in the documentary, Christine shares how ‘petrified’ she is as an ‘extremely vulnerable’ single parent, later opening up about her harrowing experiences of sexual abuse.
She elsewhere talks about suffering from an eating disorder, and being diagnosed with anorexia aged 14.
Elsewhere, she talks about her mental health battles and feeling suicidal.
Christine begins: ‘I was really nervous about doing a documentary that was just based on autistic women and girls, because there’s obviously boys out there and men that are autistic, and I didn’t want it to come across as being sexist at all.
‘But there’s so many women being diagnosed later on in life because they’re being misunderstood, or they’re masking and they’re not showing it.
‘And it’s so important that that changes, because those women probably needed help and support when they were girls.’
She goes on to recall: ‘When I was at school, I just remember it being the worst time of my life, to the point where I didn’t want to live.
‘There was just so much going on in my head – it’s really, really sad to think that there could be teenage girls feeling exactly the same.’
Christine elsewhere heartbreakingly shares her past of sexual abuse, saying: ‘My relationships before I met Patrick were not very good. I’d say they were pretty bad experiences.’
Breaking down into tears, she continues: ‘Before Patrick I had been sexually abused, I was raped. I used to pray and it’s sad now when I think about it, I’d pray every night that I wouldn’t wake up in the morning.
‘I didn’t want to live, just because it was so awful. It was just awful.’
Christine McGuinness: Unmasking My Autism is available to watch on BBCiPlayer.
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MORE : Christine McGuinness heartbreakingly opens up about facing sexual abuse as a teenager
MORE : Christine McGuinness opens up about suffering from eating disorder aged 14 and not eating any meals at school
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