Escape to the Country star Jonnie Irwin has shared a candid photo of himself with his wife Jessica looking exhausted during a road trip with their three sons, Rex, Rafa and Cormac, revealing that all three kids had spent the five-hour road trip watching their tablets - with no headphones!
He wrote: "5 hours on and off in car with the boys. Each one with a tablet/screen without headphones! Acoustic hell! #roadtrip."
Fans were quick to empathise, with one writing: "The pain is literally written all over your faces, been there done that… you can’t beat it gotta love kids." Another fan added: "Oh dear, your poor wife’s face."
A third person wrote: "Huge respect for you 2. Wife & Mummy understandably looks broken with made me well up. I'm sending positive thoughts & prayers to you all. Your strength & positivity is admirable & from a lady whose followed you mainly on Escape to The Country. I really miss seeing you giving the best tours & such amusing remarks to prospective buyers. Loads of love & keep fighting."
Jonnie was diagnosed with terminal cancer back in 2020, and recently opened up about his condition on BBC’s Morning Live, saying: "I'm really good. I have up days and down days but today is very much an up day. The family are great and very noisy… I've been in palliative care since day one. It can take many guises, palliative care through the hospital, chemotherapy treatment, all the way to the hospice."
Speaking about the hospice he has been admitted to, he added: "My perception of a hospice was very much a boiling hot room full of people that look frail and are towards the end of their days. This is nothing of the sort. It is spacious, energised, and comfortable. It even has a jacuzzi bath and ensuite rooms. The staff are just amazing and I've had a really good experience of my hospice."
Jonnie has previously shared his disappointment that he was unable to continue presenting Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun following his cancer diagnosis, saying: "Even though I look thinner and I’m without hair, Escape to the Country and A Place In The Sun Ltd, which runs the show’s exhibitions, have employed me and I’ve been so impressed by them… But I didn’t get that support from A Place in the Sun.
"I told them I wanted to work. When I said, 'I can get you doctor notes and assurances from my oncologist that I am fit to work,' I was told, verbatim, 'Oh, you really don’t want to go down that route, do you?'"
Channel 4 released a statement about the situation which read: "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."