Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Jonnie battling terminal cancer
Heartbreak for TV property star
TV presenter Jonnie Irwin wants to make memories with his young family as he revealed he does not know how long he has left to live in his fight with terminal cancer.
The 48-year-old, who presents Channel 4’s A Place In The Sun and BBC1’S Escape To The Country, said his lung cancer had spread to his brain.
Irwin, who has three-year-old son Rex and two-year-old twins Rafa and Cormac with his wife Jessica, had kept his illness private until now.
But he told Hello! magazine: “I don’t know how long I have left.”
The first warning signs came in 2020, when his vision went blurry during a filming trip to Italy. “Within a week of flying back, I was being given six months to live,” he said. “I had to tell my wife, who was looking after our babies, that she was on her own, pretty much. All I could do was apologise to her.”
He added: “It’s become a monkey on my back. I hope that by shaking that monkey off I might inspire people living with life-limiting prospects to make the most of every day.”
The property expert, who trained as an estate agent, takes the view that he is “living with cancer, not dying from it”.
He said: “I want to make memories because the reality is, my boys are going to grow up not knowing their dad and that breaks my heart.”
His Place in the Sun co-host said: “I am here for you my dear friend, and Jess and the boys.”
Former C4 co-host Scarlette Douglas, currently appearing on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, will be told the news when she leaves the jungle.
I hope to inspire others to make the most of every day