Jonnie Irwin shares festive snaps with his family amid cancer battle
A Place In The Sun’s Jonnie Irwin shares sweet festive snaps with his family amid terminal cancer battle – after saying he doesn’t know if this Christmas will be his last
A Place In The Sun’s Jonnie Irwin shared some sweet festive snaps with his family on Thursday amid his terminal cancer battle.
The TV presenter, 49, was given just six months to live when he was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, which has spread to his brain, in August 2020, and publicly shared his prognosis last month.
But Jonnie is making the most of time with his loved ones and headed on a Christmas day out with his wife Jess and son Rex, three, this week.
Day out: A Place In The Sun’s Jonnie Irwin shared some sweet festive snaps with his family on Thursday amid his terminal cancer battle
The parents took their little one to see Santa Claus at a Christmas tree farm where they enjoyed mince pies and mulled wine and took some lovely snaps.
Alongside the pictures Jonnie penned: ‘Ok, I’ve given in, Christmas is here! Nothingbtondonwith the mince pies and mulled wine on offer at all! Merry Christmas! X’
Jess and Jonnie also share twins Rafa and Cormac, two, but they didn’t feature in the family pictures.
Heartbreaking: The TV presenter, 49, was given just six months to live when he was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, which has spread to his brain, in August 2020, and publicly shared his prognosis last month
It comes after last month Jonnie admitted Christmas will be ‘tricky’ following his terminal cancer diagnosis.
He also gushed about his ‘perfect partnership’ with wife Jess whom he married within just a year of meeting in 2016.
With just days to go until December, he told The Sun: ‘I’d be lying if I didn’t say that Christmas will be tricky. I’m not saying this will be my last one because I don’t know for certain.
‘I want to be here as long as I can but it could be. And I want to enjoy it and just spend time with Jess and the kids.’
Love: But Jonnie is making the most of time with his loved ones and headed on a Christmas day out with his wife Jess and son Rex, three, this week
The couple tied the knot within 12 months of meeting after Jonnie convinced his new love to hand in her notice at work and go travelling with him.
He said: ‘I asked Jess to marry me because not only is she very pretty but classically so, but she was fun. That’s not to say anyone else I’ve dated ‘wasn’t fun, but she was just on my wavelength. She has a great spirit of adventure and we didn’t have one argument until the kids came along, and all parents fall out don’t they?’
Jonnie recently revealed he’s been ‘showered with love’ by fans since he revealed he was axed from Channel 4’s A Place In The Sun following his cancer diagnosis.
The TV host admitted he ‘had no idea how much people liked what he did’ on the series, until he was flooded with supportive comments and messages from fans offering their sympathies.
Fun: The parents took their little one to see Santa Claus at a Christmas tree farm where they enjoyed mince pies and mulled wine and took some lovely snaps
He said: ‘I’ve had messages from people all over the world, wishing me well. Thousands of people have left me heart-warming comments on Instagram and I promise I will try to read them all.
‘They range from practical, scientific advice to ones from very religious people. There are thousands and thousands of them on my social media platforms and it’s been great.
‘I’ve not hidden away but I’m not bothered about the limelight. I had no idea how much people really liked what I did and I know that now.’
In an interview last month, Jonny revealed that after sharing his cancer diagnosis with A Place In The Sun bosses, his contract was not renewed, with Jonnie admitting the decision ‘broke my heart.’
Reflecting: It comes after last month Jonnie admitted Christmas will be ‘tricky’ following his terminal cancer diagnosis
Bosses expressed their sympathies to him in a statement, while clarifying why they were unable to renew his contract following his cancer diagnosis.
Free Form Productions, who make the programme, said they were ‘unable to secure adequate insurance cover’ for him to continue international filming amid the Covid-19 crisis and said they understood his ‘frustration’ at the decision.
A statement released to MailOnline read: ‘Jonnie has been a hugely important part of the A Place In The Sun family for over 18 years and all of us were deeply saddened by his diagnosis.
‘Much loved by everyone on the production, no stone was left unturned in trying to enable Jonnie to continue his international filming with us during Covid but the production company were unable to secure adequate insurance cover for him.
Kind: The presenter (pictured with Jasmine Harman) said recently: ‘I’d be lying if I didn’t say that Christmas will be tricky. I’m not saying this will be my last one because I don’t know for certain’
‘Whilst we were unable to continue to film abroad with him, we’re delighted that he was able to remain as part of our team in the UK for exhibitions. We of course understand how frustrating this must be for him at this incredibly difficult time.
The former estate agent’s TV career began in 2004 when he was selected from hundreds of applicants to co-present A Place in the Sun with Jasmine Harman.
He was the programme’s longest-serving presenter, alongside Jasmine, who is still with the show.
In 2010, he won more fans by becoming a regular host of Escape to the Country, and he has continued filming for the show since his diagnosis and throughout treatment.
Addressing his axe on Thursday’s episode of Good Morning Britain, he said: ‘When I was told I couldn’t do it they broke my heart, but I don’t think they thought of me. I’ve been bowled over by some people and the desire to help me and my family.
‘Not working on A Place In The Sun any more has affected my mental health. I’m a family man now but being a TV presenter defines you and not being able to travel and provide for my family.’
He added in a chat with The Sun: ‘Within two weeks someone else was on TV doing my job, I just feel I earned a bit more from them after 18 years. That was my first job in TV and it was special to me.’
Jonnie’s diagnosis came when he was filming Channel 4’s A Place In The Sun in Italy in 2020, after he had experienced blurred vision while driving.
Sad: In an interview last month, Jonny revealed that after sharing his cancer diagnosis with A Place In The Sun bosses, his contract was not renewed, with Jonnie admitting the decision ‘broke my heart’
Within a week of flying home, doctors told him he was terminally ill and had just six months to live, though cancer drugs and chemotherapy have helped prolong his life.
Earlier this month, MailOnline unearthed footage of Jonnie sipping Puglian olive oil on his last trip for A Place In The Sun in 2020, before he discovered he had terminal cancer. The episode was never broadcast.
During an appearance on GMB, Jonnie revealed his focus at the moment is ‘making memories’ for his children – son Rex, three, and two-year-old twins Rafa and Cormac – because he fears they won’t remember him after he dies.
He explained: ‘I’m about making memories, I know my children are so young they won’t remember me.
‘I want to at least get it on camera or film to show them the early days were brilliant. I think our house for Christmas will be extravagant.’
He also detailed the struggles he and his wife have faced in handling his diagnosis around their children, saying: ‘It’s only been recently I’ve considered when we are going to tell them, they are so young.
Couple: Jonnie and Jess tied the knot within 12 months of meeting in 2016 after Jonnie convinced his new love to hand in her notice at work and go travelling with him
‘At the moment I’m me, a thinner version, there’s no need to tell them. I think it’ll be a lot for them to get their heads round.
‘I try my best to put my head in the sand because what’s the point spending your days thinking about cancer when there’s gas bills to worry about. The cost of living is a concern because I won’t witness it, but my family will.’
He continued: ‘I was in fear of what’s happened to some extent, when people find out you have cancer it’s terrifying and I lose work through it, professionally I didn’t want to lose work, people treat you differently.
‘If I withheld that information, I could have lived a normal life. There are certain busy bodies on social media saying I look ill.’
Sharing his diagnosis, he told Hello: ‘I’m carrying a dirty secret – it’s become a monkey on my back. I don’t know how long I have left, but I try to stay positive and my attitude is that I’m living with cancer, not dying from it.
‘I set little markers – things I want to be around for. I got into the habit of saying, ‘Don’t plan ahead because I might not be well enough’.
‘But now I want to make plans. I want to make memories and capture these moments with my family because the reality is, my boys are going to grow up not knowing their dad and that breaks my heart.’
From Lutterworth to Lanzarote: How former estate agent Jonnie Irwin’s TV career took off after he beat hundreds to present A Place in the Sun
TV presenter Jonnie Irwin has revealed he is suffering with terminal cancer, saying he hopes sharing his terminal cancer diagnosis will inspire others to ‘make the most of every day’
Born in 1973, Jonnie Irwin grew up in Bitteswell, Leicestershire, and attended Lutterworth Grammar School and Community College before becoming an estate agent.
In 2004, Irwin was selected from hundreds of applicants alongside co-presenter Jasmine Harman to present Channel 4’s show A Place In The Sun – Home Or Away. The property programme was a surprise hit and syndicated widely. Irwin also regularly presents the BBC’s Escape To The Country and To Buy Or Not To Buy.
In January 2011, Sky 1 broadcast Irwin’s own show called Dream Lives for Sale, in which he helped people leave their lives in the UK in order buy their dream business.
Later that year, he started a new series The Renovation Game which aired on weekday mornings on Channel 4.
Outside of presenting, he is also a commercial director for Judicare, which describes itself as a ‘specialist law firm providing clients with legal advice on all matters related to overseas property’.
Irwin married Jessica Holmes in September 2016. Together they have three sons and lived in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire before moving to Newcastle.
On November 13, Irwin was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He told Hello magazine: ‘I don’t know how long I have left, but I try to stay positive and my attitude is that I’m living with cancer, not dying from it.’
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