ESCAPE to the Country star Jonnie Irwin left fans in tears after sharing a heart-warming update about his Christmas plans amid his devastating cancer battle.
Jonnie, 50, was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2020. He was given months to live but has continued to beat the odds.
He shared a bittersweet post about living longer than he expected on Instagram ahead of Christmas this year.
Jonnie pulled a funny face as he posed with a head torch and wrote: “You know when you’re getting old when you need to wear a head torch to assemble furniture..!”
Fans were quick to comment on the post, noting how well Jonnie was looking and how emotional it made them.
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One said: “Jonnie you look fantastic. Lovely to see, genuinely. Merry Christmas to you all.”
Another gushed: “Looking very well Jonnie... so wonderful to see. Wishing you all a very happy Christmas.”
“You look great! Thinking of you & wishing you well. Happy Holidays to your beautiful family,” added a third.
"Age looks great on you! Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family," commented another.
When he announced his diagnosis last year, Jonnie told The Sun: “I won’t let cancer define me.”
He added: “A friend of mine told me, ‘Your body achieves what your mind achieves’, and I want to live by that.
“My attitude is that I’m living with cancer, not dying from it.”
Jonnie has defied the odds since he was given just six months to live after being told the cancer had spread to his brain in August 2020.
Since his diagnosis, the presenter has spoken about his wish to spend as much time with his family as possible. He shares three-year-old twins Rafa and Cormac with wife Jess as well as their five-year-old son, Rex.
Jonnie has been undergoing treatment to prolong his life, and he recently shared a few snaps of him living life to the fullest.
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This includes enjoying a drink in his local pub and taking Rex to their local panto, which was Pinocchio. It “had Rex in stitches,” he commented afterward on social media.
Jonnie previously admitted to the Daily Mail that his kids don’t know how sick he really is.
“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?” Jonnie said, admitting he’s been putting off speaking to his kids about it.
“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,” he said.
