I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here star Scarlette Douglas told ITV Lorraine viewers that she did reach out to A Place In The Sun co-star Jonnie Irwin following news of his terminal illness.
Speaking with Lorraine, Scarlette revealed it was “important” for her to message Jonnie directly, rather than post on social media.
“This world now, everything is based on social media and what was more important for me was to message him directly and let him know that I’m thinking of him and if there’s anything you need I’m here,” she confirmed.
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Scarlette continued: “I don’t have to put that out everywhere because it’s personal”.
(Image: ITV)
The presenter, who went on to star in this year’s I’m A Celeb went on to share how inspirational Jonnie was when she first started out on the Channel 4 show.
“He was the one that I first looked up to when I got my screentest. I remember I’d watched all of his episodes and I said ‘Right, I’ve got to do this like Jonnie'”, Scarlette revealed.
(Image: Instagram)
Jonnie, who hosted the popular Channel 4 real estate show, was given six months to live when he was diagnosed in August 2020. Since then he’s survived on medication, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
The host also told The Sun that A Place In The Sun had terminated his contract over claims they couldn’t find insurance that would cover Jonnie.
(Image: Channel 4)
He said the show’s bosses paid him off mid-series and didn’t renew his contract. In response, he said: “As soon as people find out you’ve got cancer, they write you off,”
Jonnie continued: “Yes, I have stage four, and it’s terminal — but not yet, so let me live my life while I can.”
In a statement, Freeform Productions said they were “deeply saddened” by Jonnie’s diagnosis.
(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
They wrote: “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 was unable to secure adequate insurance cover for him” the statement concluded.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
