PADDY McGuinness believes his autistic children will never be able to leave home.
And the TV star revealed he’s worried about the day when he and wife Christine, 33, will not be around to look after the trio.
He said: “I think my kids will probably be at home with me for ever. It’s great now. I’m here and Christine’s here.
“But eventually there comes a point when we’re not here any more and I worry about people taking advantage of them. We’re just putting everything in place for them and trying to get them as independent as they can be.”
The Bolton-born star – promoting his autobiography My Lifey – revealed the added challenges of being a parent as their three children, eight-year-old twins Leo and Penelope, and five-year-old Felicity, all have autism.
When the twins were first born, he said: “You’ve got double nappies, double teething, double sleepless nights, double everything, and you’ve nothing to compare anything with.”
He and Christine also didn’t have many friends with children of a similar age, he continued, “so we had nothing to gauge anything against”.
When anxious or overstimulated, the twins would make high-pitched trilling sounds or flap their arms.
Leo displayed obsessive behaviour, such as spinning the wheels on his toy cars, while Penelope would cry and become introverted.
Both became increasingly anxious about new experiences.
The Christmas when they were two, Christine did not put up any decorations because the lights and unfamiliarity would unsettle them.
The couple didn’t reveal their situation even to close family members.
“We’d make excuses when they were young,” Paddy told the Sunday Times.
“People would say, ‘Bring them round to our house.’ And in my head I’m thinking, ‘You have no idea how difficult that is.’
‘’To put your kids in the car and nip to your aunty’s or your cousin’s is the best thing in the world, but for us it was the most difficult thing in the world,” he added.
“And Christine wouldn’t let anyone in the house, really.”
