A Place in the Sun star Jonnie Irwin died back in February, survived by his wife, Jess, and their three children; Rex, five, and twins Cormac and Rafa, three.
The star was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer back in 2020 – a week after his vision went blurry while filming in Italy – and the disease later spread to his brain, prompting Irwin to reveal in 2022 that he had just six months to live.
Despite the terminal diagnosis, Irwin went on to live for nearly three years and continued to work through his illness, earning a living from his TV appearances and private property consultations.
Irwin shot to fame during his time on A Place in the Sun from 2004 to 2021, where he helped eager house-hunters find a forever home in their dream holiday destinations.
As well as APITS, the 50-year-old also wrote for A Place in the Sun magazine and presented the BBC daytime show Escape to the Country from 2010 to 2023.
However, despite wanting to continue his TV work, Irwin revealed to The Sun that Channel 4 bosses cut him from all his roles following his diagnosis and claimed that Freeform Productions “paid me off for the rest of the season and didn’t renew my contract”.
He added the snub left him “really low”, with Freeform later claiming it was because the company could not get insurance for him to work.
Irwin met his wife Jess in 2016 through mutual friends and found out about his terminal illness just two months before she was due to give birth to their twin sons.
It has been reported this week that his final will was signed in October 2022, with the Channel 4 star leaving everything to his wife of seven years.
According to The Sun, the presenter had £956,967 in assets, reduced to £953,425 after deductions, which will be signed off in a probate court on Saturday in Newcastle, where he moved from his native Leicestershire.
Jonnie Irwin’s cancer spread to his brain and was told her had six months to live
Back in June, the star’s wife revealed how she held Irwin in his final moments as he listened to their children playing, and told The Sun of the “f*****g awful process” of his final few days.
“You hear people say ‘he passed away peacefully. It was lovely,’ but it wasn’t for Jonnie. It was a f****** awful process. I wish I hadn’t seen it but I had to be with him.
“I still struggle with what he went through. I can’t imagine what it is to know your time is up and you’re hearing the noise of your three sons kicking a football in the drive; you can smell food cooking downstairs.”
She described how Irwin was “surrounded by love” at his home in Newcastle, rather than a hospice, and had around 30 visitors coming to say their goodbyes in his final days.
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Jasmine Harman and Laura Hamilton were some of the first to pay tribute to Jonnie Irwin
The star’s wife also spoke of the moment she told her three children of their dad’s death, revealing they had kept the children “blissfully unaware” of their dad’s battle, before telling them “angels had taken him to heaven”.
Tributes flooded in when the news of his death was announced, with his A Place in the Sun co-stars Jasmine Harman and Laura Hamilton being some of the first to note how much he would be missed.