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Featured Image Credit: Jonnie Irwin/Instagram
Topics: Health, Jonnie Irwin, Celebrity, TV And Film
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Health, Jonnie Irwin, Celebrity, TV And Film
It's been just over a year since on-screen star Jonnie Irwin first opened up about his devastating terminal lung cancer diagnosis.
The TV presenter - best known for having fronted A Place in the Sun - was informed of his ailing heath back in 2020, but opted to keep his diagnosis under wraps from fans until November 2022.
He was informed at the time that it was unlikely he'd live beyond six months, but to Jonnie's own surprise and relief, he's 'still here'.
Speaking on the Conversations with Jane McLelland podcast, the father-of-three explained how he's managed to continuously think positively amid his arduous experience with the disease.
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"One of the reasons I think I'm still here is I'm not a cancer patient," he told listeners.
"It's always there at the back of your mind, but I'm living with cancer, not dying with cancer."
Jonnie, 50, added that he actively tries not to much too much emphasis on how long he has left, but is constantly focussing on making more memories with his loved ones.
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"If I just listened to the prognosis I'm perennially given, I'd be curled up in a ball and crying myself to death," he confessed.
"I'm so much more open-minded now. Probably because I've got a gun to my head.
"It's a rich kaleidoscope of help that I'm getting and I'm pursuing and I will continue to do that."
Jonnie - who shares children Rex, five, and three-year-old twins Cormac and Rafa with his wife Jessica, 41 - went on to advise any listeners who are themselves battling with cancer that they should 'look into alternatives and do your own research'.
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Among the numerous alternative therapies Jonnie has been undergoing are accessing hyperbaric oxygen, intravenous Vitamin C, and undergoing Reiki treatments.
Despite this, he insists that the most affective form of mental comfort is getting himself into a positive mindset.
"At the very least you're giving people hope. And as a patient that can add weeks and months," he said.
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"This positive attitude buys you days, buys you weeks and buys you moments with people like my kids."
In fact, Jonnie puts part of the reason he was able to 'make it' to his 50th birthday in November last year down to his family rallying him around him.
Speaking to Hello! after reaching the important milestone, he confessed: "I never thought I'd be here for this, so I'm chuffed to bits."
Jonnie went on to reveal he and his family had an 'early birthday party' at the start of the year because 'I didn't think I'd make it'.
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"It was like being at my own wake; lots of fun, lots of dancing," he recalled. "But here I am. I view it as a complete triumph."