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Jonnie Irwin, host of “Place in the Sun,” claims to have terminal cancer.
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Added Jonnie Irwin: “It breaks my heart to think that my boys will grow up not knowing their father. I’m now concentrating on the time I have left with my family.”
Popular television host Jonnie Irwin disclosed that he has terminal cancer.
The 48-year-old host of BBC’s Escape to the Country announced that he had lung cancer that has spread to his brain in a recent interview with Hello! magazine. “I don’t know how long I have left,” he admitted to the magazine, adding that he hoped that by telling his story, others will be inspired to “make the most of every day.”
Irwin previously worked with business transfer experts Christie & Co, where he quickly advanced to the position of associate director before moving on to join Colliers International.
Irwin and co-host Jasmine Harman have filmed more than 200 episodes of Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun – Home or Away after being selected from among thousands of applicants in 2004. The program is additionally shown daily on More4, Discovery Real Time, Discovery Travel & Living, as well as on stations in Europe and in other nations like New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa.
Irwin also hosts two BBC programs, To Buy or Not to Buy and Escape to the Country. Irwin also presented the Escape to the Country sequel, Escape to the Perfect Town.
In January 2011, Irwin’s own program, Dream Lives for Sale, which featured him helping people leave the UK and buy a business, was aired on Sky 1. He launched The Renovation Game, a brand-new morning show on Channel 4, before the end of 2011.
For the past ten years, Irwin has offered clients business and real estate advice on everything from small high-street gift shops to multimillion-dollar corporate hotel deals. He still runs a business consulting and real estate firm.
Irwin frequently contributes to the publication A Place in the Sun. Additionally, he shows up at A Place in the Sun Live, where he presents talks on his suggestions for buying property abroad. Irwin routinely hosts lectures and professional gatherings.
Irwin was first diagnosed in August 2020 after he started experiencing blurry vision while driving while filming for Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun in Italy. Numerous testing soon confirmed the presence of malignancy.
Within a week of returning from filming, I was given six months to live, he recalled, noting the impact it would have on his wife Jessica, 40, and their three kids. I had to go home and apologize to my wife, telling her that she was basically on her own with our kids. That was the hardest thing I could have done.
Irwin started his therapy subtly and only told close family and friends about his cancer. Despite his best efforts to conceal his diagnosis, the property expert said he “felt like I was carrying a nasty secret, it’s become a monkey on my back.”
“I hope that by shaking that monkey off, I might inspire people who are living with life-limiting prospects to make the most of every day and to show them that you can live a positive life, even though you are dying,” Irwin continued.
Despite not knowing how much longer he has to live, Irwin told the outlet that he is trying to focus on making memories with his children, son Rex, 3, and twin sons Rafa and Cormac, 2.
“I’ll have to deal with this at some point, but I’m doing everything I can to put off the inevitable for as long as I can. I owe that to Jess and our boys “said he. I don’t have a bucket list as some individuals in my position do, I just want our family to experience as much as we can.
“My perspective is that I’m living with cancer, not dying with it,” Irwin remarked. I set modest objectives for myself that I wish to accomplish. I got into the habit of telling people not to make plans ahead of time because I might not feel up to it. But I want to start planning right away. It crushes my heart that my boys won’t know their dad as they get older, so I want to cherish and record these times with my family.
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