Jonnie Irwin has spoken out about the way he was treated by Channel 4 following his terminal cancer diagnosis.
Appearing on ITV's Good Morning Britain today he told Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard all about his journey so far. He first noticed the symptoms of his illness when he was filming A Place in the Sun.
His vision became blurred and he went dizzy. But he never expected the signs to lead to such a devastating diagnosis - lung cancer.
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The 49-year-old TV presenter decided to keep his diagnosis a secret for a long while, but was told earlier this year that he was terminal and was not expected to live longer than six months. He decided to tell his story in an interview with Hello! Magazine.
The former A Place in the Sun presenter said he felt forced to tell the world what was really going on as "busy bodies" on social media kept commenting on how unwell he looked. He said people that didn't know kept suggesting that he should see a doctor.
Today, while appearing on ITV, he said: "When people find out you've got cancer, I mean I remember what I felt when I heard the words - It's a terrifying thing hearing the word cancer. If I felt like then I thought everyone else would feel like that and lo and behold I lost some work through it.
"And so, I wanted to keep it secret because professionally I didn't want to lose work. But socially and emotionally people start treating you differently and people start making decisions for you."
He added: "If I withheld that information I found I could live a normal life. Right up until probably a year ago."
Jonnie said he was "heartbroken" after finding out his job on A Place in the Sun was axed. Channel 4 put it down to insurance issues. The TV presenter said: "When I was told I couldn't do A Place in the Sun because they didn't think they could get insurance it just broke my heart. And I don't think they even thought for me. They'll say they did..."
He added: "Not working on A Place in the Sun anymore, that affected my mental health. You know, you get cancer, you've got all the problems associated with that.
"Being a TV presenter I think almost defines you. Not being able to travel and do what I think I'm pretty good at and not being able to provide for my family. Every show I do now is money for my family."
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