Christine McGuinness has revealed she suffered from panic attacks while taking part in ITV's Strictly The Real Full Monty.
The show sees a host of famous faces get their kit off for charity as they perform a dance routine choreographed by Diversity star Ashley Banjo.
While stripping off is nerve racking at the best of times, Christine – who was recently diagnosed with autism – faced even more challenges than the other contestants.
Speaking about how her autism affects her on a daily basis, she told This Morning : “I’ve never really been social.
“I don’t have an awful lot of friends. I’ve always been quite a loner and I struggle to build relationships.”
Explaining how this affected her interactions on Strictly The Real Full Monty, she explained: “Spending a lot of time with people I don’t know is something I’ve never done before, or staying overnight with people I don’t know.
“Then I had to work with them all day, create conversations, eat with them. I found it all a bit much at times.”
The Real Housewives of Cheshire star added: “I’ve always felt different and with this, I just wanted to go into a TV show and try and fit in. Everyone else just seemed to be getting on with it.
“Everyone had their little moments, but I really felt like I was struggling. I was having panic attacks. I needed time out every single day. During lunch I would go off on my own and try and calm down.”
Christine, who is married to comedian Paddy McGuiness, has three children who are all diagnosed with autism like her.
The family recently won praise for starring in the BBC documentary Paddy and Christine McGuiness: Our Family And Autism.
Although she admits appearing on Strictly The Real Full Monty is outside her comfort zone, Christine - who was a recluse in her twenties - says she did it to set an example to her kids.
“I want them to live a good life. To go out, get jobs, make friends and have relationships – to do all these things that I struggled to do.
“They need to see mummy do it. I really want to keep pushing myself and keep doing stuff. And it was really, really fun in the end.”
Christine said another reason she had to yes to the show is because her mother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer during lockdown – and had to go through treatment alone due to Covid restrictions.
“This cancer tore my family apart...I wasn’t able to give my mum a cuddle when she was going through the worst time in her life. It was awful.”
Other celebs joining Christine to help raise money for cancer awareness include Blue’s Duncan James, Love Island ’s Teddy Soares and Demi Jones.
Strictly Come Dancing couple James and Ola Jordan, Olympian Colin Jackson, Loose Women’s Brenda Edwards, Homes Under The Hammer presenter Martin Roberts and EastEnders star Laila Morse complete the line-up.
*Strictly The Real Full Monty is on ITV at 9pm tonight
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@trinitymirror.com or call us direct 0207 29 33033.
