Paddy McGuinness 'tells estranged wife Christine to sign gag order if she wants a divorce'

BBC presenter Paddy McGuinness has told his estranged wife Christine that she must sign a non-disclosure agreement as part of their divorce terms, her friends claim.

Mr McGuinness vehemently denies that he has made the demand.

But her friends insist it’s true and that she will not give in. She has also hired the top lawyer who represented Ant McPartlin’s wife Lisa Armstrong.

Sources close to Ms McGuinness say that Top Gear host McGuinness, 50, does not want the former model and mother to his three children to publicly discuss their marriage or divorce – despite giving his own interview to The Sun newspaper yesterday in which he spoke in depth about how they are coping with the split.

Christine and Paddy McGuinness got together in 2009, marrying two years later

Mr McGuinness vehemently denies that he has made the demand for his estranged wife, Christine to sign a non-disclosure agreement as part of their divorce terms

A feature was published in the tabloid with the headline: ‘We live together, we love each other… we’re just not jumping into bed any more.’

In the chat to promote his comedy tour, McGuinness did confirm that they disagree over their divorce ‘when lawyers are involved’.

A friend of Ms McGuinness said: ‘Christine will not be told what she can and can’t say in the future. He gave an interview about their divorce, so can’t she talk about things, too?’

Ms McGuinness, 35, has hired Catherine Bedford, a partner at legal firm Harbottle & Lewis, who is nicknamed ‘the pitbull’, to represent her.

The friend added: ‘The gloves are off. Catherine doesn’t mess about – she has batted off NDA demands in the past. There’s no reason she can’t do it again.’

The McGuinnesses announced they had split in 2022 after 11 years of marriage.

But they still share a home in Cheshire to ensure that their autistic children – ten-year-old twins Leo and Penelope and seven-year-old Felicity – are not uprooted.