Paddy McGuinness reportedly wanted to keep their marriage going publicly but Christine 'couldn't carry on'.
The Top Gear host and his wife Christine took to their Instagram pages to release a statement confirming the end of their 11-year marriage.
Their social media statement, shared on Friday, came after weeks of speculation over their marriage.
And now, a source close to the couple claimed Paddy wanted to keep a 'united front' in public but Christine wanted the news to go public.
"He wanted to control the narrative and Christine felt like she had no option but to go along with it," the source said.
"But in the last week, she said they couldn’t carry on and pushed for them to go public. She has had enough of putting on a brave face," they added to The Sun.
Mirror have contacted Christine and Paddy's representatives for comment.
In their statement, Christine and Paddy wrote: "We hadn't planned on sharing this publicly until we were ready but the lack of privacy surrounding our personal life, we feel left with no other option but to clarify.
"A while ago we took the difficult decision to separate but our main focus was as always is to continue loving and supporting our children.
"This was not an easy decision to make but we're moving forward as the best parents we can be for our three beautiful children.
"We'll always be a loving family, we still have a great relationship and still live happily in our family home together."
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The joint statement continued: "We hope this now draws a line under anymore unwanted and unnecessary intrusion into our private life.
"Although we work in the public eye we ask kindly if you could respect our wishes for privacy on this matter. We'll be making no further comment."
Earlier this month, Christine admitted that she and Paddy were having a 'very, very difficult time'.
She said she was feeling "all over the place" and said they were having a "situation".
Speaking about her emotional state of late, Christine confessed: "I’m feeling really quite raw and all over the place."
Christine and Paddy first sparked concerns over their marriage when he failed to support her at The Games. Later, Christine took a solo trip and cryptically discussed "following her heart".
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