TV presenter Jonnie Irwin has revealed he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
The 48-year-old, who presents Channel 4’s A Place In The Sun and the BBC’s Escape To The Country, told Hello! magazine his lung cancer had spread to his brain, according to BBC News.
“I don’t know how long I have left,” he told the publication.
He added that he hopes his diagnosis will inspire people to “make the most of every day”.
Irwin, who shares three-year-old son Rex and two-year-old twins Rafa and Cormac with his wife Jessica, had kept his illness private until now.
He explained that the first warning signs came in 2020, when his vision went blurry while he was driving, while filming A Place In The Sun in Italy.
“Within a week of flying back from filming, I was being given six months to live,” he said.
“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.”
Irwin has continued to work as much as possible and said it had got to the point where “I felt like I was carrying a dirty 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, to help them see that you can live a positive life, even though you are dying,” he continued.
“One day, this is going to catch up with me, 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.”
Image source: BBC News
