TV host lambasts ‘Place in the Sun’ bosses

THE much-loved TV show, A Place in the Sun, has come under fire from one of its own former presenters no less.

49-year-old Jonnie Irwin, has spoken about how he felt when he admitted to programme bosses that he had been diagnosed with cancer, writes The Daily Record, Thursday, May 25.

Property expert, Jonnie, joined the Channel 4 show in 2004 and hosted over 200 episodes, but he was axed by TV bosses following news of his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer, which made him feel like he was, ‘thrown on a scrap heap.’

Dad of two, Irwin announced his illness in November 2022, which was over two years after his original diagnosis. He kept the news private for as long as possible because he ‘needed the money,’ and didn’t want preferential treatment.

Speaking on the OneChat podcast Jonnie said: ‘The only reason I kept it secret is because I’ve got to earn, I’ve got to feed my babies, I’ve got to pay my bills.’

The painful news was compounded by the response from his employers: ‘As soon as you say you’ve got cancer, people just write you off, people just think you are going to cark it. If I was to continue to be able to provide for my family, I just had to keep it a secret and it was really difficult.’

‘Unfortunately, one of the companies claimed they couldn’t insure me and so they didn’t renew my contract and left a massive hole in my income.’

Jonnie confided: ‘I felt like I’d been thrown on a scrap heap. They recruited within a week and then I saw someone else doing my job.’

Jonnie went on to say how he didn’t want others to make the same mistake he did by not taking out critical illness insurance, which meant he had to keep on working despite his diagnosis.

Last year, Freeform Productions clarified their position: ‘Jonnie has been a hugely important part of the A Place in The Sun family for over 18 years and all of us were deeply saddened by his diagnosis.

‘Much loved by everyone on the production, no stone was left unturned in trying to enable Jonnie to continue his international filming with us during Covid but the production company were unable to secure adequate insurance cover for him.’