Christine McGuinness opens up about four year pregnancy struggle following anorexia battle

Deepika Rajani
·Contributor
Updated
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 22: Paddy McGuinness (L) and Christine McGuinness attend the National Television Awards held at The O2 Arena on January 22, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Paddy McGuinness (L) and Christine McGuinness attend the National Television Awards held at The O2 Arena on January 22, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Christine McGuinness has opened up about the struggles she faced when she tried to conceive after battling anorexia.

McGuinness who has three children with husband and comedian Paddy, spoke candidly during a discussion with Giovanna Fletcher for her Happy Mum Happy Baby Live podcast.

The star revealed that she suffered from the eating disorder throughout her teens and had started to overcome it by the time she met Paddy.

However, her dreams of starting a family were delayed due to the impact anorexia had on her body.

Read more: Paddy McGuinness takes his own food when he travels abroad

“I had anorexia for over 10 years as a child, all through my teenage years, [and was getting better] when I met my husband aged 19, 20,” she explained.

Christine McGuinness has spoken candidly about the struggles she faced to conceive following her battle with anorexia (Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Christine McGuinness has spoken candidly about the struggles she faced to conceive following her battle with anorexia (Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage)

“It was that strive and I just really wanted to be a mum that made me get over that.

“When I went to see a doctor, the reason I wasn’t ovulating or having my periods was down to having an eating disorder. That made me get better but it took four years for everything to regulate.”

She added: “I tried a bit too hard and got pregnant with twins. I must have done 20 tests.”

Despite Paddy’s hectic schedule, Christine joked that she made sure they didn’t waste any time when it came to conceiving.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 22: Christine Martin and Paddy McGuinness attend the National Television Awards held at the O2 Arena on January 22, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)
Christine and Paddy are parents to twins Leo and Penelope and Felicity (Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

“You’re tracking your chart and your temperature. My husband works away a lot so we had to make the most of our time together.”

Read more: Paddy McGuinness didn't realise he was a bad driver until Top Gear

They say practice makes perfect and that’s what happened for the couple.

“It worked and I really couldn’t believe it…I did the test over and over again, we were just so happy,” Christine recalled when she discovered she was pregnant with twins.

“We’d done the tests every month for four years and it always came back negative. I got to the point where I didn’t want to do it anymore because I expected it to be negative.

“I was feeling hopeful, [Paddy] was like, ‘go p**s on your stick, I’m going to wait downstairs’.”