I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star Scarlette Douglas was shocked to hear her A Place In The Sun co-star Jonnie Irwin had been diagnosed with terminal cancer following her exit from the jungle.
The 35-year-old TV presenter worked with Jonnie on the house hunting programme but only heard the news of his diagnosis following her departure from the jungle on Monday morning Australian time.
Scarlette, 35, admitted that although the stars rarely presented the show together as they always work in different locations that she always looked up to Jonnie. The property expert looked to Jonnie for guidance, and often watched his episodes to take inspiration from the star.
Jonnie, who opened up on his health news last week, revealed he had been battling the disease in secret for two years. Doctors gave him six months to live in 2020, and the property expert has been living against the odds ever since.
"I had heard but I didn't realise it was terminal, which makes it sound imminent," the evictee, who was sent home from the jungle second after Loose Women presenter Charlene White, told the Mirror.
"On A Place In The Sun we're always in different locations and we never really get to see each other. Sometimes our paths might cross but I think I probably only met Jonnie in person maybe three times, a handful of times, but it was always just brilliant.
"And I remember when I was doing my screen test for it, I'd watch a lot of his shows because he was confident with the house hunters," the star continued. "He was just on it. He knew everything, you know, you never question Jonnie. Jonnie was just so knowledgeable."
"Any questions the house hunters had, he knew the answer to and I remember taking a lot of inspiration from him when I first did the screen test, and even still doing the shows, still watching his episodes and being like 'Jonnie's done it like that'. And I love how he's done that. So I want to add a bit of that into how I present stuff.
Scarlette went on to say she's keen to continue learning from Jonnie and to add his experience into how she presents. The star explained her sadness at not realising the "true extent" of how unwell Jonnie is, and will get in touch with her co-star soon.
"Of course I'm going to drop him a message now because that's devastating because I know he's got three young kids, he's got a beautiful wife and he's an amazing person," Scarlette added.
Jonnie shares his three children - son Rex, three, and twins Rafa and Cormac, two - with his wife Jessica. He said he hoped sharing his diagnosis would inspire others to "make the most of every day".
In his interview revealing his diagnosis, he said: "I'm carrying a dirty secret – it's become a monkey on my back. I don't know how long I have left, but I try to stay positive and my attitude is that I'm living with cancer, not dying from it.
"I set little markers – things I want to be around for. I got into the habit of saying, 'Don't plan ahead because I might not be well enough'.
"But now I want to make plans. I want to make memories and capture these moments with my family because the reality is, my boys are going to grow up not knowing their dad and that breaks my heart."
Scarlette will return to A Place In The Sun following her stint on the reality show down under. The star was a positive force in the camp, and particularly helped comedian Babatúndé Aléshé to stay strong as the group navigated their daily challenges on the show.
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! continues on ITV tonight at 9:15pm.
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