A Place In The Sun star Jonnie Irwin revealed he wants people to learn from his mistake amid his terminal cancer battle.
The father-of-three was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020 and started having symptoms while he was away in Italy filming the Channel 4 property show. Jonnie, 49, warned fans of his mistake and urges others not to make this error going forward.
Jonnie said he regrets not taking out critical illness insurance and explained he was forced to "keep working" because of this "mistake". He told AIG Life's The OneChat podcast that he feels "ridiculous" for not considering this level of insurance after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
"I didn’t take critical illness insurance out and therefore I had to keep working,” the star said. “Without work, I’ve got no means of paying the bills. And if I had taken the critical illness insurance out, that could’ve covered my outgoings and I probably could’ve told the world [about his condition] a lot sooner."
He added: “I could’ve had two years of living a more open lifestyle. And I want people to learn from that mistake. I think at the time I just thought I can better spend that money elsewhere. Where I don’t know.
"I’ve not frittered it away. Maybe because I know what benefits it would have had, it just seems ridiculous that I didn’t.
“I thought I was doing well just taking out life insurance. It’s one positive thing and helped me a great deal in getting a financial position in life to know my wife and my boys are more secure. But how I wish I’d taken out that extra cover.”
The property expert admitted the "hardest thing" he's ever had to do was tell his wife he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer just two months after she gave birth to their twins.
“I can remember it like it was yesterday. And I’ve got no memory since my whole brain therapy. But that bloody memory stays in my head. And it is brutal. All I can remember is hugging her and just saying, 'Sorry,'" Jonnie added.
This comes after Jonnie shared that he had the best ever Father's Day with his three children Rex, three, and two-year-old twins Rafa and Cormac.
Sharing a series of photographs, which featured home made cards, cake in the garden and a motorbike ride, Jonnie penned: "Had The best Father’s Day ever. Breakfast of Chocolate Guinness cake baked expertly my brilliant wife then cards from the boys and visit from my brother in law for a brief pillion ride back in time to enjoy some of the highs and lows of the Ashes ending in more cake with more family washed down by a drop of champers. #fathersday."
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