With a twinkle in her eye and sporting a slinky black ensemble, Emma Carey confidently strutted through central London.

More used to signing off press releases and fielding queries from journalists, the BBC publicist looked glamorous and carefree – off the clock as she headed out for a date at the upmarket Rosewood Hotel near Covent Garden.

But she wasn’t entirely unentangled from her day job on the Radio 2 publicity desk, and the man she was stepping out with was one of the station’s biggest on-air stars: 52-year-old Paddy McGuinness.

Dressed in a plunging black halter neck top, Emma had her hand affectionately placed on his lower back and looked smitten as she entered the swanky Rosewood.

They later departed for a nearby hotel, looking comfortable in each other’s company during the warm summer evening.

But despite the new couple’s apparently loved-up display, the Daily Mail can now reveal that close friends of Paddy’s ex-wife Christine McGuinness, 38, are worried about the new match and behind the scenes are warning off the Irish publicist.

‘Paddy only ever does what Paddy wants to do,’ one source says, suggesting that Emma better get used to playing second fiddle to the star’s work. ‘His career comes first.’

Clearly, there is little love for Paddy in Christine’s camp but, having witnessed the demise of the couple’s 11-year marriage in 2022, their insight is revealing.

Since divorcing the television star, Christine has had a string of love interests, though none have developed into relationships

A close source told the Daily Mail: ‘Paddy can be very charming and of course he and Emma are clearly in the honeymoon period at the moment, staying at five-star hotels, having nice dinners out.

‘He’ll be wining and dining her and pulling out all the stops to impress her. Everything will be fine in the beginning, it’s what comes afterwards that Emma needs to worry about.

‘He can only keep it up for so long.’

When the sparkle fades, Christine’s camp warns that ‘Paddy is all about Paddy’.

‘If he doesn’t want to do something then he won’t,’ the source says. ‘He is the star and like Christine was in the beginning, Emma isn’t famous, although through her job she will have some understanding of his world.

‘But it will be Paddy who makes all the decisions about where they go and what they do. He acts like he’s quite laid back but the reality is he isn’t. And of course it will have to fit around his work and his schedule.

‘He’s always been like that. His work and his career comes first. Even when he had the kids that never changed.’

He met Emma, who is in her mid-30s, after joining BBC Radio 2 in 2024, taking over Michael Ball’s Sunday slot. At the time, fans of Ball, a West End legend, weren’t impressed that his show had been given to Paddy, whose musical pedigree stretched to an appearance in the video of 2005 Comic Relief single Is This The Way To Amarillo.

As a publicity lead for the station, Emma handles its press coverage as well as promotion for its shows and talent.

She first joined the BBC in 2016, working in the press office, and later relocated to Ireland in 2020 to take up a job in RTÉ, the country’s public service broadcaster. She returned to the UK in 2024, taking up a post in Sony Music before moving to Radio 2 last summer – by which time Paddy was very much clear of his marriage to Christine.

He and the mother of his three children had announced their separation two years previously. It was a sorry end to their marriage, which began with a lavish wedding at Thornton Manor near Cheshire in 2011, attended by their famous friends, including Paddy’s mentor Peter Kay with whom he appeared in Channel 4's hit Phoenix Nights.

Despite what was a turbulent divorce at times, the exes still live together at the family home in Cheshire with their children, all of whom have autism.

They have largely remained on good terms and co-habit, which they say is for the sake of twins Penelope and Leo, 11, and Felicity, eight, to avoid disruption of their routines.

Christine, who had hired ‘pitbull’ solicitor Catherine Bedford, was determined to remain in the marital home

Emma Carey first joined the BBC in 2016, working in the press office, and later relocated to Ireland in 2020 to take up a job in RTÉ, the country’s public service broadcaster

‘Christine has always done the majority of the childcare and still does,’ said our source.

‘Paddy comes and goes as he pleases, which he’s always done, but now he doesn’t have to explain himself. Whereas before he would at least tell her what he was doing work-wise and when he was going to be away.

‘Now it’s all very much on a need-to-know basis. He would block huge chunks of the calendar out for his work and Christine could only do things if he wasn’t working or else she’d have to get her mum to help.

‘He never really supported her doing anything, he didn’t like it when she started doing things in the limelight.’

Paddy and Christine’s seven-bedroom gated property, which boasts a gym and a swimming pool, had become a pawn in their divorce proceedings.

Christine, who had hired ‘pitbull’ solicitor Catherine Bedford, was determined to remain in the marital home.

However, Paddy argued he could not afford another property as big – and size mattered.

Sources at the time said he was ‘very much the king of the castle’ and was never going to leave for a smaller house while Christine stayed put.

Yet, despite his legal fight to keep their Cheshire mansion – which is currently on the market for £6.5million – sources say he is rarely there. ‘He spends even more time away than he did when they were married,’ my insider says.

It’s obviously not his venue of choice when with Emma.

Last week, Christine told the Daily Mail that she and Paddy have a strict rule about bringing dates back.

‘This is the family home, and then Paddy and I have our lives outside,’ she said.

‘But we never did have many visitors to the house, even when we were married. We don’t introduce the children to just anybody.

‘So certainly when it comes to dating, anything like that is going to take a very, very long time, like years, years and years.’

Was it coincidental that just days after that interview, Paddy and Emma appeared publicly together for the first time?

‘Christine is used to Paddy being linked with other women,’ the source says. ‘It was happening while they were married, which was incredibly upsetting and humiliating for her.

‘But now they’re not together he can do what he likes and of course he does.

‘Everyone around Christine is still very protective of her, she’s been through a lot these last few years and is doing the best she can for their children. She’s very good at putting a brave face on things.’

Since divorcing the television star, Christine herself has had a string of love interests, though none have developed into relationships.

Having declared herself a ‘five-star lesbian,’ she has been linked to footballer Chelcee Grimes, DJ Roxxxan and Olympic boxer Nicola Adams.

But as transformative as her love life has been, it is Paddy and Emma who have tongues wagging inside the BBC. ‘It is very much the talk of the office,’ one Corporation mole tells me.

Paddy has long been a favourite at the Beeb, and was even rumoured to be in the running as the new host of Strictly Come Dancing.

The Daily Mail previously reported how Suzy Lamb, managing director of BBC Studios, was pushing the Take Me Out and Top Gear star as the perfect fit to take on the Claudia Winkleman role of interviewing contestants.

Lamb didn’t get her way, but her pet presenter is still making headlines nonetheless.

It remains to be seen whether new partner Emma heeds the advice of those closest to his ex… or continues to let Paddy take her out.