‘I won’t let it define me’: Jonnie Irwin defies doctors' prognosis as he plans 50th birthday amid terminal cancer battle

11 November 2023, 08:39

The star has revealed his plans to celebrate his 50th birthday.
The star has revealed his plans to celebrate his 50th birthday. Picture: Instagram

By Jenny Medlicott

Jonnie Irwin has revealed his plans to celebrate his birthday despite doctors previously giving him just months to live.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

A Place in the Sun’s Jonnie Irwin is planning to set off to Spain to celebrate his milestone 50th birthday, as he continues to defy his prognosis.

The star was given just six months to live when he was diagnosed in August 2020. The cancer has since spread to his brain. He publicly shared his prognosis in November.

Jonnie thought his final days had come earlier this year after doctors warned he wouldn’t make it to his twins’ third birthday party in June.

His weight fell below six stone and he was so weak he struggled to walk.

But despite predictions, Jonnie not only made it to his kids’ third birthday party, but is now mapping out plans to celebrate his own 50th birthday.

“Lying in the hospice, I thought I’d had it,” he told The Sun.

“I was on the cusp of death.

“At my weakest point I thought, ‘This is it, this is the beginning of the end’.”

Read more: 'I see love when I'm with him': Bruce Willis' daughter shares update on his 'aggressive' dementia

Read more: Baywatch star divorces Earl of Devon after admitting she ‘underestimated’ life as an aristocrat

Jonnie said he refused to give up when he returned home from the hospice.
Jonnie said he refused to give up when he returned home from the hospice. Picture: Instagram

But the star refused to quit fighting, as he set himself on a mission to get stronger when he returned home to spend time with family.

He said he would force himself out of bed, drink protein shakes to build his strength, and pass the hours in an oxygen tent to curb any growth of the cancer.

Following treatment, including chemotherapy, the star now weighs over eight stone and spends all the time he gets with his kids, as he refuses to give up.

“I won’t let cancer define me,” he told the outlet.

Jonnie is set to celebrate his birthday this month.
Jonnie is set to celebrate his birthday this month. Picture: Instagram

It comes after the star revealed in September his cancer was “on the move again” in an online post.

Sharing a photo of himself wearing an oxygen mask, he wrote: “The wait for more scans is frustrating when you know the cancer is on the move again.”

“Meanwhile there’s stuff I can do to make the terrain as tough as possible for growth and the ladies down at serenti_health are part of my team of suppliers for various therapies.

“I’d recommend this place to anyone wanting to tap into a healthier lifestyle. Big shout as always goes to how_to_starve_cancer whose constant help has a huge impact.”

Jonnie and his wife Jessica Holmes share three children, Rex, four, and three-year-old twins Rafa and Cormac. The children are not aware of his terminal diagnosis.

The star has fought a long and hard battle to stay positive since his terminal diagnosis and has given fans regular updates on his condition throughout.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Dorothy Chiles

Great-grandmother, 87, pictured for first time after deadly train station attack, as woman in her 20s arrested

President Donald Trump speaks on Wednesday night

Trump says 'the US wants its money back on Ukraine' as he makes plans to meet Putin and end war

Exclusive
Katie Amess has spoken out about the need for an inquiry into her father's murder by an Islamist terrorist

Daughter of Sir David Amess, MP murdered by Islamist terrorist, ‘made to sign NDA’ on report into father’s death

Exclusive
Angela Rayner reveals she took advice from NHS trauma specialists ahead of Grenfell demolition meeting

Angela Rayner reveals she took advice from NHS trauma specialists ahead of Grenfell demolition meeting

Italian F1 Grand Prix - Previews

Nightclub bouncer behind £12m plot to reveal Formula One star Michael Schumacher's health secrets jailed

Josef Fritzl

Incest monster Josef Fritzl could walk free from prison next year - and expects 'cheering crowds' to greet him

Ofsted's Chief Inspector Sir Martyn Oliver supports an extension to term times

'Time to think about school holidays': Ofsted's Chief Inspector supports extending term times

Exclusive
Angela Rayner insisted that British support for Ukraine was 'unwavering'

Rayner insists UK support for Ukraine 'unwavering' despite Trump's plan for 'immediate' peace talks with Putin

Prince William, President of BAFTA, operates a film camera as he visits the London Screen Academy in London, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)

William tries his hand at being a cameraman on visit to London film academy

President Donald J. Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin during the G20 Japan Summit Friday, June 28, 2019, in Osaka, Japan.

Trump and Putin 'to meet in Saudi Arabia' and 'start negotiations immediately' to end war in Ukraine

Street scene in Peckham, London, with red bus

Bus driver, 76, found guilty of killing passenger who was run over while attempting to board vehicle

Norward Road, Lambeth, the proposed LTN.

Council staff given 'wellbeing day' after attending 'stormy' neighbourhood meeting

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, shakes hands with Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey prior to a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a NATO defense ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Feb.

Ukraine's NATO membership plans 'unrealistic' says US - as defence secretary claims US troops won't be peacekeepers

Jaysley Beck, 19, was found dead at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire

Officer accused of pinning down and trying to kiss soldier, 19, had been 'waiting for moment for them to be alone'

A public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks will begin 'within weeks'

Public inquiry into Nottingham attacks will begin 'within weeks', PM tells victims' families

Paul Allen.

Cagefighter guilty of Britain's largest cash robbery shot in neck in his kitchen in murder plot