Jonnie Irwin tells fans he's 'still here' as he shares update on cancer fight

Jonnie Irwin has told how struggling to play football with his little boy amid his cancer battle "broke" him a bit.

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, four, and two-year-old twins Rafa and Cormac.

Opening up to The Sun about how he was doing, the 49-year-old said he was "still here" although he was "weak" and "fragile".

Read more: Jonnie Irwin kept cancer diagnosis a secret to keep working and be treated normally

He said he recently tried to play football with his eldest son and that he could not get near the ball, which he admitted was "frustrating".

“I’m very sporty and suddenly it’s just like… it was as if it was the first time I’d attempted football," said the presenter.

"I felt like a granddad. And that broke me a bit.

“I always thought, ‘I’m an older dad but I’ll be leading from the front’ but I’m now at the back.”

Irwin has previously said that he plans to leave messages for his children and for his wife for after he passes away.

However, in the new interview he revealed that he was putting off making them as it was too painful.

The TV star was diagnosed in August 2020 after his vision went blurry while he was shooting the Channel 4 property show.

Read more: Jonnie Irwin called 'an inspiration' as he returns to A Place In The Sun

He told Hello magazine that within a week of getting back home he was being given months to live.

Watch: A Place In The Sun presenter Jonnie Irwin explains why he kept cancer diagnosis secret