Jonnie Irwin has opened up about his terminal cancer diagnosis in a new podcast interview as he detailed his heartache.
The A Place in the Sun presenter was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020. Last year, it was revealed that it had spread to his brain and is now terminal.
Jonnie has appeared on the OneChat podcast recently as he spoke about telling his wife Jessica about his diagnosis, and why he kept his diagnosis secret initially.
Jonnie Irwin podcast interview on cancer battle
Heartbreaking moment he told his wife about his diagnosis
During the interivew, Jonnie opened up about the moment he told his wife, Jessica, about his diagnosis.
Speaking about what led to him going to the doctors before any diagnosis, he explained: “I was driving and I started seeing these gold spots and because I was driving I thought this isn’t right. Went to hospital and they said, ‘he’s not right.’”
Jonnie said he was abroad filming at the time, so he was sent home and went straight to hospital, leaving his wife worried. Jonnie said: “Within hours, I got told I had cancer. Then a few hours later, thankfully my good friend was with me, so he sat with me when they said it was terminal cancer and I had six months to live.”
Revealing the moment he had to tell his wife, Jonnie admitted: “I walked home. I had to go home and tell my wife. That was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. How do you tell the woman, who only two months before has had twins, that you’re not going to be there any more?
“I can remember it like it was yesterday. I’ve got no memory since my whole brain therapy, but that bloody memory stays in my head and it is brutal. All I can remember is hugging her and saying sorry.”
Jonnie on the ‘brutal’ effects of treatment
The TV star went on to detail the effects of the cancer treatment he’s faced. Jonnie said: “I still maintain that I’m living with cancer rather than dying from cancer. Within six months [of the diagnosis], I was having whole brain therapy and that’s brutal.
I’ve got no memory since my whole brain therapy, but that bloody memory stays in my head and it is brutal.
“You lose all your barnet. Obviously, I could cope with that, I’ve got a good shaped head. But you lose your memory. And you lose patience.”
He added: “People don’t know this unless they know me, but I’ve got a very short temper. I’m very quick-witted, I’m lucky like that. But I’m quick to temper as well.”
Jonnie admits he’s ‘scared’ of answering the phone now
Jonnie admitted he’s now ‘scared’ when the phone rings after receiving all the bad news. He said: “Every time I’m called by the doctor, every time ‘number not recognised’ comes up, I think ‘[bleep], now what?’.
“I’m scared of the phone now and I never used to be. I went from being on the phone all the time to not. So it’s difficult. Every day is a challenge but I maintain to be as positive as I can. If that means burying my head in the sand, that’s exactly what I’m going to do and try and live as much as I can.”
Why Jonnie kept his cancer diagnosis secret initially
Jonnie went on to discuss the reason why he kept his diagnosis a secret initially. He said he was worried about not getting work if people knew he was ill.
He said: “Because I don’t have critical illness insurance, I need money. The only reason I kept it secret is because I’ve got to earn. I’ve got to feed my babies. I’ve got to pay the bills and as soon as you say you’ve got cancer, people just write you off.
“If I was to continue to be able to provide for my family, I just had to keep it a secret and it was really difficult.”
He added: “For the first year and a half, I could work. Unfortunately one of the companies claimed they couldn’t insure me and so they didn’t renew my contract and left a massive hole in my income.”
Jonnie Irwin makes plea over critical illness insurance
During another part of the podcast, Jonnie opened up about not having critical illness insurance – which is to help critically ill people have some recovery time if they can’t work.
Jonnie said: “I want people to learn from my mistake. I didn’t take critical illness insurance out and therefore, I had to keep working.
Read more: Amanda Lamb shares heartfelt message she sent to her A Place in the Sun pal Jonnie Irwin
“Without work, I have no means of paying the bills. If I had taken the critical illness insurance out that could have covered my outgoings and I probably could have come out and told the world [about the diagnosis] a lot sooner.”
Issuing a plea about getting the insurance, Jonnie said: “Anyone, if they’ve got the opportunity, do it now. Don’t put it off.”
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Rebecca Carter
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