Jonnie Irwin 'removes himself' from family home to stay in hospice amid terminal cancer
14 June 2023, 13:27
Jonnie Irwin recalls ‘devastating’ moment he told wife his cancer was terminal and reveals he’s spent time in hospice to deal with pain
A Place in the Sun’s Jonnie Irwin has described the moment he told his wife Jessica Holmes about his terminal cancer diagnosis.
The star was given just six months to live when he was diagnosed in August 2020. The cancer has since spread to his brain. He publicly shared his prognosis in November.
In an interview with Jessica, Jonnie explained in November how he is trying to stay positive as he lives with cancer.
The couple have children Rex, four, and three-year-old twins Rafa and Cormac together. The children are not aware of his terminal diagnosis.
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He told Hello! magazine: “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 apologise to her. I felt so responsible.”
The presenter was left in tears as he revealed how he and wife Jessica, 40, have only spoken about the reality of his prognosis on a couple of occasions, after he was left at “death’s door twice”.
“The programme is to try and remain positive. Positive for me is burying my head in the sand a bit,” he told the OneChat podcast with AIG Life.
“Jess and I don’t talk about it much and we’ve been close to death’s door a few times now. Twice at least.
“Apart from those times we’ve not really talked about it. Financially we’re slowly getting stuff in place, transferring account details and putting stuff in her name but being positive [is] such an important factor. I do that by not talking about it too much.”
