Christine McGuinness admitted she 'never expected to stay' with her husband Paddy when they first met.
The model went into detail about her relationship with the Top Gear host in her book, A Beautiful Nightmare.
Paddy and Christine met in 2007 thanks to mutual friends and got married four years later.
They even welcomed three children, twins Leo and Penelope, nine, and six-year-old Felicity.
When she met Paddy, he lived in a smaller house, which she appreciated, but the star never thought they'd stay together.
"Patrick lived in a normal three-bed house in Bolton, so it wasn’t too overwhelming," she said.
"I wasn’t like, oh God, he’s a millionaire! It wasn’t too over the top, which I’m glad of, because I would have struggled with that.
"If I’d met him and he lived where we live now, I’d have probably run a million miles. What also helped me was that our relationship wasn’t full-on from the start. It was a bit of fun that turned into a marriage."
The star went on to explain how their romance was a 'slow-burner'.
She said: "I never expected to stay with him. I guess I had my reservations about love and men from my past."
It comes after the recent speculation over the state of their marriage in the last few weeks,
Some concern was sparked by his failure to 'publicly support' her whilst she was on ITV 's The Games.
More recently, Christine headed off on holiday with some friends and later hinted at issues within the relationship.
She told the Sun recently: "I'm feeling really quite raw and all over the place. What I might have put up with in the past, I probably wouldn’t put up with now, and the same for him.
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The Real Housewives of Cheshire alum added: I can't deny, we are having a very, very difficult time." She didn't go into detail but stressed that she "didn't cause this situation."
She had previously said on Instagram amid the speculation surrounding her marriage: "There is only one thing I want to make clear right now... I didn't put us in this situation."
Christine recently appeared on ITV's Lorraine and discussed her marriage woes.
She said: "I think marriages just go through ups and downs anyway. I think all marriages - especially long ones like ours - it's not always going to be plain sailing but we're trying to deal with things as privately as possible.
"We just want to be there to support the children and have an amazing summer. We're going away on a family holiday next week and we're really excited. They're always going to be our focus."
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