"I’m trying to just stick to their normal routine."
Christine McGuinness has revealed that she plans to spend Christmas with her now ex-partner Paddy despite their shock split - and their children still don't know about it.
The couple announced they had split back in July after 15 years together, but are yet to tell their children, twins Leo and Penelope, nine, and Felicity, six, about their family situation.
Christine has spoken out about co-parenting alongside Paddy and what the two plan for Christmas Day.
While she did say how "heartbreaking" it had been to separate from Paddy, Christine told OK! that the pair will be spending Christmas together as "that's what their children are used to."
She continued: "We're amicable. I’m quite happy for him to be there with the children and it’s nice for them to see Mummy and Daddy just being alright.
"I would never let the children be aware of anything other than us being happy and alright, because they’re so young and innocent.
"They’re so young. I’m trying to just stick to their normal routine - take them to school in the morning, pick them up, try to work while they’re at school and take them to after-school clubs and just try to stick to normal life as much as possible."
Christine and Paddy announced their split on Instagram in July, sharing a joint statement that read: "We hadn’t planned on sharing this publicly until we were ready but after the lack of privacy surrounding our personal life, we feel left with no other option but to clarify.
"A while ago we took the difficult decision to separate but our main focus as always is to continue loving and supporting our children. This was not an easy decision to make but we’re moving forward as the best parents we can be for our three beautiful children. We’ll always be a loving family, we still have a great relationship and still live happily in our family home together.
"We hope this now draws a line under any more unwanted and unnecessary intrusion into our private life. Although we work in the public eye we ask kindly if you could respect our wishes for privacy on this matter. We’ll be making no further comment."
