CELEBRATING FATHER'S DAY WITH HIS THREE BOYS, T.V. PRESENTER JONNIE IRWIN SPEAKS MOVINGLY ABOUT LIFE AND LOVE AS HE SHARES PRECIOUS MOMENTS AND MEMORIES WITH HIS FAMILY

Jonnie Irwin is keeping his plans simple for Father’s Day – a kickaround in the garden with his three boisterous boys, enjoying some cake and maybe even a cheeky glass of champagne.

- ROSALIND POWELL

“That’s enough for me,” he says. “That’s all I need.”

The Escape to the Country presenter will savour every small moment with sons Rex, four, and twins Rafa and Cormac, who turn three this month, and his wife Jessica, throwing himself into family life in a way he hasn’t always felt able to in the past three years.

In August 2020, two months after the birth of his twin boys, Jonnie was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer that had spread to his brain.

“At the start of my illness, I know I held back,” he tells HELLO! at his home in Newcastle-uponTyne. “It was probably a defence mechanism as ultimately I know I’m not going to be around.

“But more recently I thought: ‘F**k it.’ I just want to immerse myself in it and to have as many good times as we can.”

NEVER GIVING UP 

It is fighting talk from a man who says he isn’t “interested in talking about cancer – I want to talk about life”.

Which he does with bravery, resilience and stoicism – as well as a few tears – in this exclusive interview and photoshoot, talking movingly about his pride in and love for his family, as well as how he is coping with an illness that has left him weak and in pain, but not diminished.

“It can happen at any time,” he says of his death, which he has so far cheated for three years. “I’m here to stop it for as long as possible.”

A stay in a hospice to deal with chronic pain in his back has meant Jonnie, 49, has been more sedentary than usual, not so quick on his feet or as full of the energy needed to keep up with his rambunctious boys.