The 48-year-old, who presents Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun and the BBC’s Escape to the Country, said he had lung cancer that had spread to his brain and did not know how long he had to live. Irwin said his first warning sign of the illness came while filming A Place in the Sun in August 2020 in Italy, when his vision became blurry while driving. “Within a week of coming back from filming, they gave me six months to live,” she told Hello magazine. “I had to go home and tell my wife, who was looking after our babies, that she was almost alone. This was devastating. All I could do was apologize to her. I felt so responsible.” There has been speculation recently following the absence of Irwin, who has a three-year-old son, Rex, and two-year-old twins, Rafa and Cormac, with his wife, Jessica, and his appearance changed when he returned this summer. He said: “It’s got to the point now where I feel like I’m carrying a dirty secret, it’s become a monkey on my back. “I hope that by shaking off this monkey I can inspire people living with life-limiting perspectives to make the most of each day, help them see that you can live a positive life even though you die. “One day, this will catch up with me, but I’m doing my best to keep this day off as much as possible. “I owe it to Jess and our boys. Some people in my position have bucket lists, but I just want us to do what we can as a family.” Irwin said he continued to work as much as possible and had an attitude of “I’m living with cancer, I’m not dying from it.” He said he wanted to create memories for his family because “my boys are going to grow up not knowing their dad and that breaks my heart.” Irwin also encourages people to take out life insurance, saying he was comforted that when his wife and children died they would be in a fully paid-off house and have some money in the bank for them. PA Media contributed to this report
