I’m A Celeb’s Scarlette Douglas discusses Jonnie Irwin’s ‘devastating’ terminal cancer diagnosis
(Picture: ES Composite)I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! star Scarlette Douglas has spoken out on her A Place in the Sun co-star Jonnie Irwin’s “devastating” terminal cancer diagnosis.
The 48-year-old recently revealed that he had been given months to live after his lung cancer spread to his brain. In the wake of his terminal diagnosis, Irwin’s co-stars were quick to share their support; however, Douglas revealed she didn’t know the extent of his illness until she left the jungle.
The presenter told MailOnline after her exit: “I did know he wasn’t well but I didn’t know this. I didn’t realise it was terminal, which makes it sound like it’s imminent.
“I have come out and been told but I didn’t know the true extent of it so of course I’m going to drop him a message because that’s devastating.”
Recently, Irwin revealed the first warning sign of his illness came while he was filming A Place in the Sun in August 2020 in Italy, when his vision became blurry while driving.
“Within a week of flying back from filming, I was being given six months to live,” Irwin, who also hosts Escape to the Country, told Hello! magazine.
“I had to go home and tell my wife, who was looking after our babies, that she was on her own pretty much. That was devastating. All I could do was apologise to her. I felt so responsible.”
Irwin, who has a three-year-old son Rex and two-year-old twins Rafa and Cormac with his wife, Jessica, said he had chosen to keep his illness private until now but no longer wants to carry it like “a dirty secret”.
He said: “It’s got to the point now where it feels like I’m carrying a dirty secret, it’s become a monkey on my back. I hope that by shaking that monkey off I might inspire people who are living with life-limiting prospects to make the most of every day, to help them see that you can live a positive life, even though you are dying.
“One day, this is going to catch up with me, but I’m doing everything I can to hold that day off for as long as possible. I owe that to Jess and our boys. Some people in my position have bucket lists, but I just want us to do as much as we can as a family.”
