Paddy McGuinness looks glum after Nicole Appleton drama

Married actor/presenter Paddy McGuinness has made an appearance in public for the first time since his private life hit the spotlight this week.

Paddy, 44, was seen in a low-key ensemble as he headed out in London on Tuesday night, looking steely-faced. 

Doubt was cast over the Take Me Out star’s marriage to wife Christine, as it emerged that he and All Saints singer Nicole Appleton had allegedly spent an evening in Soho together and that she had obsessively hit ‘like’ on at least 124 of Paddy’s 1,139 posts on Instagram in the last 10 months. 

Fueling the fire further, both Paddy and Nicole, 43, have now unfollowed one another on social media, as Christine, 29, was spotted in tears in her car.

The ordinarily chipper comedian seemed pensive and strained as he made his way across the street in a navy tracksuit and New York Yankees baseball cap.

He looked unshaven and slightly ashen as he ignored the bulbs flashing around him and crossed the pavement.

Despite the evident strain his marriage has been put under, Paddy showcased his wedding ring on his left hand as he walked toward a car that was waiting to collect him.

Showing his face: Married actor/presenter Paddy has made an appearance in public for the first time since his private life hit the spotlight this week

Like, what? Nicole has obsessively hit ‘like’ on at least 124 of Paddy’s 1,139 posts on Instagram in the last 10 months

Feeling the strain? Paddy, 44, was seen in a low-key ensemble as he headed out in London on Tuesday night, looking steely-faced

Paddy wore his glasses and headed over to the waiting vehicle, which he ducked into before being driven off. 

Nicole’s close friends appear to be rallying around her amid the furor, with her All Saints bandmate Melanie Blatt photographed leaving the Canadian singer’s London home on Tuesday morning after spending the night.

Hours before, Nicole was seen fleeing her home with a large suitcase, attempting to remain unseen as she rode away in a car around 7pm. 

Under the spotlight: Doubt was cast over the Take Me Out star’s marriage to wife Christine, as it emerged he and All Saints singer Nicole had allegedly spent an evening together in Soho

 Fueling the fir: Both Paddy and Nicole, 43, have now unfollowed one another on social media, as Christine, 29, was spotted in tears in her car

With this ring: Despite the evident strain his marriage has been put under, Paddy showcased his wedding ring on his left hand as he walked toward a car that was waiting to collect him

As speculation spread about Paddy and Nicole, the TV star’s wife of seven years Christine struggled to contain her emotions on Monday, when she was seen in floods of tears during what should have been a routine trip home from her local hair salon in Alderley Edge, Cheshire.

The blonde beauty – who has three children with 43-year-old Paddy – defiantly continued to wear her sparkling wedding ring despite questions about the state of her marriage.

Ahead of their mutual unfollowing, All Saints singer Nicole had thrown her support behind a wide variety of snapshots of the Lancashire native including images of the TV hunk shirtless. 

Always silent, never talking: The ordinarily chipper comedian seemed pensive and strained as he made his way across the street in a navy tracksuit and New York Yankees baseball cap

Getaway: He looked unshaven and slightly ashen as he ignored the bulbs flashing around him and crossed the pavement and got into the car

Canadian beauty Nicole appeared to be taken with images of the father-of-three working out, reclining on a variety of chairs and couches and dressing up in Santa-inspired gear on the lead-up to the recent festive season.

In September, the Pure Shores singer, who shares a mutual friend in Holly Willoughby with Paddy, also showed her appreciation for a shot of the handsome host with his wife Christine as they enjoyed a ‘rare’ night out on the town.

Nicole’s love of Paddy’s pictures peaked in November, when her finger hovered over the ‘like ‘ button at least 45 times. So far this month, she has liked only one snap. 

Betrayed: Christine was spotted sat in her car in floods of tears earlier [pictured last summer]

Unlikey! Amid growing speculation about their relationship, Paddy and Nicole have unfollowed each other on social media

After she was spotted on Paddy’s arm during their night out in London on Saturday, it was revealed that the pair have been exchanging tweets since last autumn.

Back in September, the TV personality tweeted that he was making himself a cup of tea before settling down to watch his BBC show Even Better Than The Real Thing.

Nicole responded with the love heart eyes emoji to which Paddy replied with an emoji blowing a kiss and writing: ‘u numero uno!’ [sic]

The cheeky banter continued in November when paddy posted a montage of saints, including a picture of Nicole’s band All Saints to celebrate All Saints Day.

Working on his fitness: Ahead of her unfollow, Nicole had shown her appreciation for a number of Paddy’s snapshots showing the Take Me Out presenter in workout mode

Married with kids: While he was spotted enjoying a night out with Nicole on Saturday, the star has been married to Christine for almost seven years, and they have three children together

Night out: In September, Nicole ‘liked’ a snap of Paddy and Christine enjoying a ‘rare’ night out

Everything happens for a reason: Hours after photographs of Paddy and Nicole emerged, Christine shared a post about ‘lies’ and ‘trusting no one’, with her Instagram followers

Cryptic: The mother-of-three also posted a cryptic message on Twitter about ‘deserving’ more

He wrote: ‘Morning! Whatever your preference have a peaceful All Saints Day from the McGuinty’s. #AllSaintsDay’

Nicole’s response included the blushing emoji as she told Paddy ‘Thanks!’ 

Hours after the photos emerged of the two out on Saturday, Paddy’s wife Christine took to social media to share a number of cryptic posts about ‘lies’ and ‘deserving more’. 

The Phoenix Nights actor enjoyed a night on the town while his Miss Liverpool wife Christine was reportedly at home in Cheshire, with their four-year-old twins Leo and Penelope, and 10-month-old daughter Felicity.

Chilling out: Among the images of Paddy that caught Nicole’s eye are snaps of him relaxing

A bleary-eyed Paddy was then seen leaving his Soho hotel the next morning to head to the Soccer Am studios, sporting a casual two-toned blue jumper and jeans, and clutching a bottle of water in hand.

MailOnline has contacted Paddy and Nicole’s representatives for comment.

The following morning, the comedian proceeded to joke about his late night with his 326,000 Twitter followers, writing: ‘Can’t beat a bit of live telly after a night on the lash’, before admitting to a fan that he was ‘still a bit squiffy’.

A source told The Sun, who first obtained the photos: ‘It was a bit naughty of Paddy going on the booze when he knew he was doing TV the next morning, but he still did well.’

Dapper: A throwback shot and snaps of the star suited and booted also attracted her attention

However, only hours after the photos first emerged, Paddy’s wife Christine shared two posts about ‘lies’ and ‘trusting no one’ to her social media pages.

The mother-of-three, 29, took to Twitter to post two messages about ‘things falling apart’ and ‘deserving more’ with her almost 17,000 followers.

The first cryptic message read: ‘When you realise you deserve so much more.. that’s not a bad thing.’

She then followed this up with a lengthier and more emotional post on Instagram, stating: ‘I believe everything happens for a reason.

Season to be jolly: He also uploaded a selection of snaps during the recent Christmas period

‘People change so you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you can appreciate them when they’re right.

‘You believe lies so that you will eventually learn to trust no one but yourself and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.’

Paddy and Christine married in 2011 at Thornton Manor in Wirral, after three years of dating.

Meanwhile, Nicole was previously married to musician Liam Gallagher, 45, before they split in 2014 and share son Gene, 16.

Since the split, she has dated Nicholas Gray – a lighting technician with indie rockers Kasabian – and was seen sharing a kiss with rugby star Da­nny Cipriani.

Social media: As well as liking his Instagram posts, Nicole has also enjoyed Paddy’s tweets

Flirty: It’s since emerged that Nicole and Paddy have been exchanging tweets for months, with a post from Paddy in November including a cheeky joke about Nicole’s band All Saints

Banter: Back in September, the Take Me Out host received a love heart emoji from Nicole