Jonnie Irwin impressed by son’s ‘brutal’ football pass in sweet video

The TV presenter is continuing his cancer treatment

Jonnie Irwin has shared a short clip of his five-year-old son Rex kicking a “brutal” football pass, which has gained praise from fans.

The A Place in the Sun host, who was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer last year, is spending as much time with his family as possible as he undergoes treatment.

He posted a video of Rex, who is the eldest of three children that Irwin shares with wife Jessica Holmes, kicking the ball to him and aiming straight for his dad.

The ball hits Irwin behind the camera and he shouts: “Oof! That’s brutal!”

Irwin wrote in the caption: “Change of sports – quick game of penalties before bedtime. Rex’s effort is going in the Biscuit Tin!”

The Biscuit Tin is a digital document storage service that helps people keep their important documents and memories for their loved ones to sort through after they die.

Irwin’s fans were quick to praise the little boy’s football skills, calling it “brilliant”.

“Bloody good strike, kid!” one person wrote, while another said: “Next Ollie Watkins in the making there!”

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A post shared by Jonnie Irwin (@jonnieirwintv)

The TV presenter, who is also known for hosting BBC’s Escape To The Country, has previously advocated for people to take control of their digital legacy while they’re still alive.

A digital legacy refers to information that is available online about someone following their death, including social media profiles, digitally stored photographs or personal messages.

Irwin first went public with his diagnosis in November and told Hello! magazine: “I don’t know how long I have.”

Since he received his diagnosis in 2020, Irwin said he has been “getting my affairs in order”.

“I’ve got a lifetime of memories,” Irwin said during an appearance on BBC Morning Live in February. “And over the years, more and more of them have been stored online.

Jonnie Irwin with his wife Jess in Paris, November 2022 (Instagram/Jonnie Irwin)

“I’ve posted thousands of pictures and images online, but when I pass on, I’ve got no idea what will happen to those images, who will access them or even if they could be deleted and lost forever,” he explained.

“We’ve got to talk more about the end of our lives, online and in real life.”

His game of football with Rex comes about a month after he shared his frustrations about not having as much energy to play with his children compared to before he was diagnosed.

He told The Sun in March: “I tried to play football with Rex the other day and was in goal and I couldn’t get near the ball. It was so frustrating.

“I’m very sporty and suddenly it’s just like… it was as if it was the first time I’d attempted football. I felt like a granddad. And that broke me a bit.”

Irwin is undergoing chemotherapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which involves breathing pure (hyperbaric) oxygen in a pressurised environment.