Christine McGuinness in tears as she confronts her 'petrifying' fear of death

Virgin Radio

4 Apr 2024, 10:18

Christine McGuinness’ Pilgrimage experience left her in tears as she confronted being “absolutely petrified” of death and the reality that “one day [she] will have to leave her children," a clip has revealed.

The Loose Women star who shares three children with her ex, Paddy McGuinness, opened up about her fears of death while taking part in the spiritually-focused BBC show, which sees a group of celebrities of different faiths and none trek 137-miles to learn about each other and themselves.

“My biggest fear is leaving my children one day,” Christine confided with a priest during her journey on the show. Getting tearful, the TV personality explained: “As a mum, it absolutely petrifies me…

“My children are considered different because they’re all autistic, and so am I, and I have often had comments like ‘I bet you wish there was a cure or something to fix your children,’ and I really don’t,” she continued. “I think every single child is a miracle, but it just makes me want to be around forever because they’re so magical.”

Explaining that she feels very much like she was called to be a mother in life, Christine said: “It is my purpose in life and I know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have my children.”

That had the star considering mortality again though. “I just don’t know what I’d do without my kids, I don’t know what I’d do without my babies, and I also don’t know what they’d do without me. It scares me. It really scares me,” she admitted.

Thankfully, Christine’s time on the show led her to not feel so scared of dying anymore, she revealed during a recent promotional appearance on The One Show. “I took away so much,” she shared. “For me personally, it was not being so scared of dying anymore. That was something that was really keeping me awake at night.”

The show also helped her develop her confidence around others after admitting her autism has in the past made her struggle in social situations. “I always felt like I didn’t fit in and always struggled in social situations, but doing this pilgrimage has made me feel like I want to do that more,” she revealed. “I want to spend time with people, I want to make friends, I want to talk more, and actually I can do it and I am more able to do it than I thought I was.”

Pilgrimage continues on BBC Two this Friday (5th April) at 9pm. All episodes are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.