Jonathan James Irwin, famously known as Jonnie Irwin, is an English TV presenter, writer, lecturer, and business expert.
Irwin is only 48 years old and is famous for his Channel 4’s shows Escape to the Country and A Place in the Sun.
Recently the TV presenter spoke to Hello Magazine and made a heartbreaking revelation that his lung cancer has spread to his brain, and he isn’t sure how long he will live.
“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,” he told the publication.
The doting father of three boys – Rex, Rafa, and Cormac- added that he’s trying to spend maximum time with his family and has no long-term goals.
“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.”
The former estate agent began his TV career in 2024 when he was selected to co-present A Place in the Sun with Jasmine Harman. Many people applied for that position, but Irwin was lucky enough to earn the role.
In 2010 he also started hosting BBC1’s show Escape to the Country as a regular host.
On Sunday, November 13, Jonnie sat in an interview with HELLO! along with his wife, Jessica Holmes, and opened up about his cancer diagnosis for the first time.
According to HELLO!, In August 2020, Jonnie was filming for his show A Place in the Sun in Italy when he noticed his vision was blurred while driving his car. When the problem continued, he consulted a doctor and was later told that he had lung cancer which had spread to his brain.
“Within a week of flying back from filming, I was being given six months to live,” he recalled. “I had to go home and tell my wife, who was looking after our babies, that she was on her own pretty much. That was devastating. All I could do was apologize to her. I felt so responsible.”
Initially, Irwin didn’t tell many people about his illness; only his family and a few close friends knew. But now that he knows his time is limited, he wants to talk about it and advise people to make the most out of their time on earth.
“One day, this is going to catch up with me,” he added. “But I’m doing everything I can to hold that day off for as long as possible. I owe that to Jess and our boys. Some people in my position have bucket lists, but I just want us to do as much as we can as a family.”
The BBC host also urged people to sign up for life insurance because it helps a lot in unexpected situations like the one he’s dealing with right now.
“I have always been ‘a risk-taker, but I finally decided to take insurance when the twins were born. That has helped so much, and when I leave this planet, I’ll do so knowing Jess and the boys are in a house that is fully paid off, and there’s a bit of money in the bank for them to live off,” Irwin concluded.
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Source: Hello Magazine
