Jonnie Irwin ‘removes himself’ from family home amid terminal cancer battle

The presenter was first diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020

Jonnie Irwin has revealed that he sometimes “removes himself” from his family home to go to a hospice while he continues to live with terminal cancer.

The A Place in the Sun presenter, 49, first went public with his diagnosis of lung cancer last year after discovering the disease had spread to his brain.

He currently lives with his wife, Jessica Holmes, and their three children, Rex, three, and twins Rafa and Cormac, two. However, Irwin admitted that sometimes the pain he experiences makes him “not good to be around”.

Speaking to Hello! magazine, the TV host said: “I remove myself on a number of occasions because I’m not good to be around when I’m in pain.

“I’m like a bear with a sore head and I don’t want [my family] to be around that.”

Irwin has previously spoken candidly about how the pain his illness causes affects his moods.

Speaking on the podcast OneChat last month, he said: “I have been close to death’s door, twice at least.

“You lose your memory, you lose your patience. I have got a very short temper. It’s not made me a better person, that’s for sure.”

This week, Irwin also opened up about why he hasn’t yet told his sons about his terminal cancer.

He said it would be difficult for them to understand the situation due to their young age.

“I keep being asked, ‘Are you going to tell them?’ but tell them what?” he said.

“It would be horrible news that they’d have to get their heads around. And it would confuse the hell out of Rex – he’s got a shocking enough day coming. Let’s bury our heads in the sand for as long as possible.”

After publicly revealing his condition, the Escape to the Country host said he was worried that his children will not remember him if he died last year because they’re “too young”.

He told The Sun: “Every time something really nice happens with them, I have this thing knocking at my door, saying, ‘Don’t get too happy because you’re not going to be around much longer’.

“Then I think, they’re not going to remember me, they’re really not. They’re too young and if I die this year, there’s no chance they will have memories.”

In early June, Irwin was admitted to hospital to be “monitored” due to a “changeover in my pain management regime”.