A Place In The Sun presenter Jonnie Irwin broke down in tears as he said he has been 'at death's door at least twice' in his fight with terminal cancer. Johnnie, who was diagnosed in 2020 and told he had six months to live, spoke about his health scares as cancer has now spread to his brain.
In an emotional interview, the presenter told the OneChat podcast with AIG life: "The programme is to try and remain positive. Positive for me is burying my head in the sand a bit. (My wife) 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."
He added: "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 such an important factor. I do that by not talking about it too much."
Jonnie was later in tears as he recalled the day he told his wife about his diagnosis, saying: "I'm not going to be here anymore".
Johnnie was diagnosed after seeing 'weird gold spots' as he was filming the Channel 4 property show in Italy.
A crew member took him straight to the hospital. Johnnie said: "Within a few hours I got told I had cancer. And I was like 'right.' Then a few hours later, my good friend Rahul was sat with me when they said it is terminal cancer and I had six months to live.
"Do you ever hear the phrase it knocked the wind out of you? Nothing had ever done that to me and it did it. I was just battered."
The dad-of-three added: "I was really shaken up. I had to go home and I had to tell my wife and that's the hardest thing I've ever had to do. How do you tell a woman who only two months before has had twins? How do you tell them that you're not going to be there anymore?
"I can remember it like it was yesterday. I've got no memory since I've had brain therapy but that b****y memory stays in my head and it is brutal."
Jonnie was given a two to three year lifeline when doctors discovered his cancer had a mutation. Despite the positive outlook, the "miracle drug" which was going to extend his life "suddenly evaporated".
He said: "And so six months later, the lesions have grown again."
Jonnie added he will continue to remain positive "even if it means burying his head in the sand".
OneChat is available on Amazon, Apple, Google and Spotify podcast platforms.
