Jonnie Irwin to leave messages for his family amid cancer fight
The TV star discussed the idea of leaving a digital legacy for loved ones
Jonnie Irwin has suggested he is going to leave messages for his wife and children so he can still “speak” to them after he dies.
The A Place In The Sun star told fans last year that he had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and was determined to make the most of any time he had left with his wife Jess and their three sons - Rex, three, and two-year-old twins Rafa and Cormac.
Appearing on Morning Live, Irwin discussed the idea of leaving a “digital legacy” for loved ones.
Read more: Jonnie Irwin kept cancer diagnosis a secret to keep working and be treated normally
The show looked at what happens to people's social media when they pass away and included a segment where a woman fighting cancer recorded daily messages for her family.
Irwin, 49, said: “It's amazing to think I too could speak to my wife and children after I pass away.
"My diagnosis has taken a lot from me but it has given me the ability to prepare."
“The only way to make sure your digital legacy is as you like it, is to take control now," he went on.
“And I'm going to take every opportunity to do that for the people I love.”
The TV star was diagnosed in August 2020 after his vision went blurry while he was shooting the Channel 4 property show.
He told Hello magazine that within a week of getting back home he was being given months to live.
“I had to go home and tell my wife, who was looking after our babies, that she was on her own pretty much,” he said.
Read more: A Place In The Sun's Jonnie Irwin thanks fans for overwhelming support
“That was devastating. All I could do was apologise to her. I felt so responsible."
Watch: A Place In The Sun presenter Jonnie Irwin explains why he kept cancer diagnosis secret
