Melanie Sykes on her son's autism diagnosis being the 'fuel' to end her unhappy ...

Melanie Sykes revealed on Friday how her son's autism diagnosis at the age of two was the 'fuel' to end her unhappy marriage with actor husband Daniel Caltagirone.

Speaking on The Hot Mess Mums Club podcast, the presenter, 51, said she could not have 'helped' son Valentino, now 17, or 'functioned as a parent' should she have stayed with Daniel, who she married in 2001 and eventually split from in 2009.  

'That boy is the light of my life. When he was diagnosed he changed my life. I couldn't be in a marriage that I wasn't happy in, in order to help him,' she admitted.

Melanie went on to reveal how the diagnosis helped her end her unhappy marriage.

'I had to sort myself out and he helped me get out of the situation that I was in – he was ­definitely the fuel for the move to do that.

'Because you and I know when you are unhappy you can't function as a parent.'

Melanie said that she was conscious of being someone her children would 'look up to and respect' and was 'mindful' of what they would 'take into their adult lives'.

'When you are unhappy you are not displaying what a woman should be dealing with. With two boys, particularly, I was very mindful of what they were observing of me as a woman and what they would take into their adult lives when they were dealing with women,' she said.

'Whether it be romantically or not because at that time I didn't know what sexual persuasion they were going to be.  

'It was just what women are and what women are capable of. I am their main woman so everything I do, I want them to see me as someone to look up to and to respect.