12 28 MARCH 2024 News&Views acceptance. “It’s not just for children like mine to feel included and represented,” she says of the story, “but also for other children and adults to see [autistic] characters and go: ‘OK, some children are more sensitive to textures, sounds and feelings…’ – even if it’s something as simple as the breeze from the wind, which feels stronger for us.” Is it partly written for her childhood self? “Definitely,” she says. “It’s the friendship and adventure that I wish I would’ve had.” Born in Blackpool in 1988, the young Christine Martin had a di cult start in life. Her father was a heroin addict who was in and out of prison, and when she crawled over one of his discarded needles as a baby, her 20-year-old mother decided the time had come to end the relationship and return to her native Liverpool. Growing up on a council estate with her mum, older sister and younger brother, Christine settled well at primary school, but struggled with the move to secondary, where she would su er fits of explosive rage, throwing chairs and tipping tables over. She was also diagnosed with anorexia, and struggled to take an interest in ‘normal’ teenage things (she’s only ever watched one film, Dirty Dancing – although she’s watched it a lot). Between the ages of nine and 13, Christine was groomed and sexually abused by a family friend – “I’d pray every night I wouldn’t wake up in the morning”, she later recalled – and at 13 was raped by a boy from school. While making her recent TV documentary Unmasking My Autism, she met a clinical specialist at King’s College Hospital, London, who suggested that as many as nine in 10 autistic women may have su ered some form of sexual abuse. “That was one of the most heartbreaking things to hear,” says Christine. “A lot of autistic people are vulnerable, but girls especially. That is mainly down to not understanding social cues – not being able to read people. I’ve spoken about being sexually abused as a teenager, and now I understand how that happened – I could never read [the di erence between] somebody wanting to be my friend, and somebody wanting more. That’s a dangerous place for autistic girls.” Written o as disruptive, Christine left school at 14 and, encouraged by her mother, began entering beauty pageants, taking the Miss Liverpool title when she was 18. She met Paddy shortly afterwards, and the couple married in 2011, just as his TV career hit its stride as the host of hit game show Take Me Out. As a result, the girl from a Liverpool council estate now lives in a palatial Cheshire home. “I still feel like I’m not living in my house,” she admits. “I still kind of feel like this is all a bit of a crazy dream.” In 2018, Christine joined the cast of reality TV show The Real Housewives of Cheshire. “When I first moved to Cheshire, I definitely didn’t feel like anyone else,” she recalls. “I was very much the stay-at-home mum. There were no photo shoots, no red carpets – I was in gym clothes every day, looking after the children. I got asked to go on The Real Housewives of Cheshire just as the kids were going to school, so I went along, and I met all these women who were so glamorous and strong, and who seemed to have it all together. And I was like a wallflower. I barely spoke the whole time I was there because I was so scared and overwhelmed. I started copying the way they dressed, the way they spoke, the way they lived. I copied it all. It’s kind of, fake it ’til you make it. But it wasn’t me at all. I was absolutely exhausted just looking after the kids.” Christine found something closer to her real tribe last year when she spoke to a group of autistic women while making Unmasking My Autism. “They were so inspiring,” she says. “I looked at them and thought: ‘I wish I was more like them.’ I can’t wait to get to that stage. I understand it takes time to process everything. Postdiagnosis, you go through so many emotions – there’s relief in understanding yourself, but there’s also some grief for the times you may have missed out on, or been misunderstood. Those women all seemed so comfortable in their own skin. “There was a quote from one of them that really stayed with me, when she said: ‘Imagine not showing up for your own life.’ Now, whenever I’m having a bit of a wobble, or wondering why I’m trying to please everyone, I think: ‘Hold on, this is my one life, too, and I want to show up for it.’” For Christine, being her authentic self includes wearing plain clothes (no patterns), and eating “plain, beige food” (as she’s hypersensitive to smell and texture). She’s also contemplating life as a single parent – although for now, she’s reluctant to trade on that label. “Although I’m a single parent, I’m not,” she says. “The children still have a mum and a dad, we’re both here equally. We co-parent fairly well. We still get on, we’re still in the same house. I think when we eventually do go into separate houses, that’s when I will feel a big dramatic change.” What about new relationships? “Right now, I don’t want anything,” she insists. “I want to use the time to continue getting to know me, and to be with my children. I’m definitely not ready for a relationship.” The children, meanwhile, are thriving STAYING STRONG Christine with Duncan James (left); in Unmasking My Autism (below); with Paddy McGuinness (bottom) ‘I have my moments, but I look at my children and I’m happy. I’ve got one unconditional love forever, with these three children’
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