Jonnie Irwin made his final TV appearance on BBC Morning Live late last year in a pre-recorded segment.
The presenter tragically lost his battle with lung cancer aged 50 on Friday with his wife Jessica Holmes announcing the news in a heartbreaking tribute.
Jonnie revealed in November his cancer had spread to his brain after first being diagnosed with the disease in 2020 and stepped back from his TV commitments.
Jonnie left fans delighted when he appeared on the show for a home renovation programme for the BBC in Newcastle.
During the show, the property expert gave viewers tips on how to add value to their homes.
Jonnie Irwin made his final TV appearance on BBC Morning Live late last year in a pre-recorded segment before his death from lung cancer
He left fans delighted when he appeared on the show for a home renovation programme for the BBC in Newcastle
Taking to Instagram to announce the news in October 2023, he wrote: ‘So good to be back filming for @bbcmorninglive.
‘We’ve just shot to short films about renovating your home and what to look out for.
‘I think my smug smile betrays the lack of a massive commute for once and the extra couple of hours I got in my scratcher as we filmed in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
‘I’ll let you know when they are due to go out, when I know myself.’
Jonnie previously recalled how a change in his vision was the first symptom of his illness that he noticed.
The television presenter had been filming A Place In The Sun in Italy when he began to see ‘weird gold spots’ when he was driving.
A crew member with him in the car was concerned at the time and took him straight to hospital where he was told he had nodules around his brain.
Jonnie got a flight straight back to the U.K and went to hospital.
Jonnie previously recalled how a change in his vision was the first symptom of his illness that he noticed while filming for A Place In The Sun in Italy
A crew member with him in the car was concerned at the time and took him straight to hospital where he was told he had nodules around his brain (pictured in January)
He 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 that it did it. I was just battered.’
The father-of-three walked home in a dazed state as he struggled to comprehend the diagnosis and the daunting prospect of telling wife Jessica.
‘I didn’t think I was shakable like that,’ Jonnie said through tears.
‘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 month 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.
‘All I can remember is hugging her and just saying sorry and I still feel sorry now.’
Jonnie had weeks of tests and bad news, but was given a two to three year lifeline when doctors found his cancer had a mutation.
Jonnie revealed the reason why he kept his battle with cancer a secret for two years was to ‘pay the bills’.
He said: ‘The only reason I kept it secret is because I’ve got to earn, I’ve got to feed my babies, pay the bills.
‘And as soon as you say you’ve got cancer, people just write you off.
‘I had to live with it as a secret. It was really difficult living with such a massive cloud above me and pretending to everyone else.
‘For the first year and a half I could work. Unfortunately, one of the companies claimed they couldn’t insure and didn’t renew my contract. It left a massive hole in my income.
Taking to Instagram, Jessica described her beloved partner, with whom she shares sons Rex, five, and two-year-old twins Rafa and Cormac, as ‘truly remarkable’
Sharing a sweet snap of her and Jonnie to his account, the tribute read: ‘It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of Jonnie’s passing’
‘I felt like I’d been thrown on the scrapheap. They’d recruited within a week and then I could see some else doing my job.’
He told The Sun: ‘As soon as I told A Place in the Sun about my diagnosis they paid me for the rest of the season but didn’t renew my contract.
‘They knew I wanted to carry on. That hurt. That broke my heart.’
When approached for comment, Channel 4 said at the time ‘no stone was left unturned’ to find a way for Jonnie to stay but they could not get insurance.
