TV presenter Scarlette Douglas left the I'm A Celebrity camp this week, only to learn that her co-worker Jonnie Irwin has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Scarlette, 35, lasted just over two weeks in the jungle completely cut off from the outside world as she completed stomach-churning challenges and dined on pretty much nothing but rice and beans.
During those 16 days on the ITV series, the A Place In The Sun presenter was blissfully unaware of the devastating news that her colleague Jonnie Irwin had shared with the world.
Jonnie Irwin, 49, revealed earlier this month that he has just months to live after being diagnosed with lung cancer that has already spread to his brain.
"I don’t know how long I have left, but I try to stay positive and my attitude is that I'm living with cancer, not dying from it," he told Hello! magazine.
"I want to make memories and capture these moments with my family because the reality is, my boys are going to grow up not knowing their dad and that breaks my heart."
Jonnie shares sons Rex, three and twins Rafa and Cormac, two, with his wife Jessica, 40.
When he was first diagnosed in 2020, Jonnie was told he had just six months to live, but with the help of cancer treatments and chemotherapy, he has managed to give himself a little bit more time.
Now, he's focused on spending his last living months making memories with his family.
Not long after Jonnie made the announcement, Scarlette's PR confirmed that the I'm A Celeb star wouldn't be told the news until after she left the jungle.
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"I know that she holds him in high regard as he was a help to her when she first started working on the show and she’s told me that he was always friendly and welcoming whenever they met since," the spokesperson told Tyla.
"There will definitely be a sense of shock and sadness when she hears the news upon leaving the jungle."
Now that Scarlette is back in the real world, she has since been brought up to speed with Jonnie's health news.
"I didn't realise it was terminal which makes it sound imminent," she told The Sun.
“With Jonnie it was so weird because on A Place In The Sun we're always in different locations and we never really get to see each other.
"Sometimes our paths might cross but I think I probably only met Jonnie in person maybe a handful of times but it was always just brilliant.
“I remember when I was doing my screen test for it, I'd watch a lot of his shows because he was confident with the house hunters."
Raving about her co-star's impeccable presenting skills, she continued: "He was just on it. He knew everything, you know, you never question Jonnie. He was just so knowledgeable.
"Any questions the house hunters had, he knew the answer to and I remember taking a lot of inspiration from him when I first did the screen test, and even still doing the shows, still watching his episodes and being like: ‘Jonnie’s done it like that’ and ‘I love how he's done that.’ So I want to add a bit of that into how I presented stuff.
“I knew that he wasn't well, but I didn't know this."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week
Featured Image Credit: ITV/FFTV
Topics: UK News, Celebrity, Im A Celebrity, Health
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