Viewers praise Paddy and Christine McGuinness after ‘eye-opening’ autism documentary

Viewers were left in tears last night following Paddy and Christine McGuinness’ debut BBC One documentary, Our Family and Autism.

Airing on Wednesday night at 9pm, the emotional documentary gave a rare insight into the home life of the McGuinness’, who are parents of three autistic children – twins Leo and Penelope, eight, and five-year-old Felicity.

For the first time, the Bolton-bornTop Gear host opened up about spiralling into depression following his children’s autism diagnosis, wherein he admitted ‘throwing myself into my work’ as he struggled to cope and come to terms with the news.   

He said: “I got that down that I had to see a therapist and he diagnosed me with clinical depression. I used to think I was the last person in the world who would have depression because I earn a few quid.

“I didn’t instantly go, ‘oh I’m depressed’ because it was a very slow process. It chipped away at me, with all of the things you have to do, things you have to deal with as a parent of children with autism.

“But it dawned on me that, that’s it, that’s it forever. There’s no ‘they’ll get better as the years go on.'”

The couple also used the documentary to visit school children and young adults with autism to find out what the future may hold for their own children, dispel dangerous myths surrounding links with autism and vaccines, and even detail Christine’s own journey after recently being diagnosed with autism herself.

Former Manchester United footballer Paul Scholes also appeared in the documentary, where he sat down with the Top Gear host to discuss his own experiences as a father of a sixteen-year-old son who is both autistic and non-verbal.

Following the release of the documentary, viewers have been taking to social media to praise both Paddy and Christine for tackling such an important topic, with many admitting the documentary ‘changing their perspective on autism’ altogether.

One person wrote: “What a beautiful, open, informative and emotive documentary currently showing on BBC discussing #autism in our children. Thank you to Paddy, family and other contributors for sharing and opening up such an important topic for conversation.”

Another commented: “Paddy thank you for sharing your family and autism. We are beginning this journey with our grandson and the program helped so much.”

Paddy and Christine McGuinness: Our Family and Autism is now available to stream on BBC iPlayer.