Jonnie Irwin, one of British television’s top presenters, has revealed that he has terminal cancer. The 48-year-old journalist confessed in a moving interview that he has lung cancer that has spread to his brain and he doesn’t know how long he will have to live. Presenter of Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun and BBC’s Country Escape He is married and has three children: Rex, aged three, and twins Rafa and Cormac, aged two.
Irwin said the first warning sign of his illness came while filming A Place in the Sun in August 2020 in Italy. when his vision became blurry while driving. “When I came back from recording, they gave me six months to live,” he told Hola magazine.
“I had to go home and tell my wife, who was taking care of our children, that I was basically alone. It was devastating. All I could do was apologize to her. I felt so responsible.”
Recently, there has been a lot of speculation about his health after Irwin was absent from the show for several weeks.
“I hope that by shaking off this burden I can inspire people who live with life-limiting perspectives to make the most of each day, to help them see that they can live positive lives, even as they die. One day this will catch up with me, but I’m doing everything I can to keep that day away for as long as possible. I owe it to Jess and our boys. Some people in my position have wish lists, but I just want us to do as much as possible as a family.”
Irwin said he kept working as long as he could and adopted the “live with cancer, don’t die from it” attitude. He said he wanted to create memories for his family because “my kids will grow up not knowing their dad and it breaks my heart.”
Irwin is also encouraging people to buy life insurance, saying it has been a comfort to him that when he dies, his wife and children will be in a fully paid-for home and that there will be money in the bank for them.
The networks showed their support for Irwin, who has been secretly battling cancer for two years. She now decided to tell it to “inspire people who live with perspectives that limit their lives to make the most of every day, to help them see life in a positive way, even if you’re dying.”
Irwin launched his television career in 2004 when he was selected to co-host Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun alongside Jasmine Harman. Years later, in 2010, he became the host of Escape to the Country, a reality show on BBC One.
Source: Clarin
