Jonnie Irwin said he doesn't plan to tell his children about his cancer diagnosis until the last minute.
The 48-year-old revealed last month that he has lung cancer which has spread to his brain. The presenter said he chose to keep his illness private until now as he did not want people to treat him differently and that he still needed to work.
Jonnie plans to keep the revelation private from his children as he doesn't want them to spend their time "mourning and confused." The dad is now spending what he believes will likely be his last Christmas with his wife Jess and their children; son Rex and two-year-old twins Cormac and Rafa.
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The former A Place In The Sun presenter said he planned something "extra special" this Christmas but is by no means planning to dampen the family's spirit with bad news. Speaking to Mail Online, he said: "If you have 20 days left, why spend them in mourning and confusion?
"Why not just have 15 days of pure, blissful ignorance and five days of knowing the facts? I'm not looking forward to the chat with Rex. We're still thinking about it. I've learnt that it's best to do nothing if you're unsure."
His wife Jess was by his side during the conversation. She said: "It's OK to do nothing. You don't have to have that conversation. Why put yourself through it?"
Jess has ensured the family has a range of new photos together to look back on for the years to come. She added: "But I haven't done anything with those 26,000 photos. I'll get around to putting them in a special book eventually. I sense there's a feeling that if they start cataloguing those pictures, they will be hastening Jonnie's death.
"It scares me, the sadness coming my way. Everyone says, 'You'll manage. You'll be surprised.' I've never had dark thoughts for myself but I wonder now: 'How will I cope with the sadness?' I know I'll have to, for the boys. I'll have to put a smile on my face. But it worries me, the great grief that will hit me."
Jonnie admitted that he isn't clueless about where his diagnosis has left him and that he's trying his best to deal with reality. He said: "I've been told I've got months to live. We're hurtling towards where we don't want to be. I've had a big dose of reality. I'm not going to beat this. People say, 'Don't worry. You will.' Well, I probably won't, mate."
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