Jonnie Irwin has denied rumours that he may return to A Place In The Sun despite his continuing terminal illness struggle.
After performing a live concert in Manchester on Sunday, the 49-year-old broadcaster, who revealed in November that he is battling terminal illness, prompted anticipation that he was returning to the famous TV show.
Nevertheless, he has since denied it, having previously stated that he was hosting a live special for the BBC show.
In an Instagram post that appears to now be taken down, Jonnie shared a picture with his former co-star Jasmine Harman, writing: ‘Last week I got to team up with my mate again at @aplaceinthesunofficial Live.
‘It was the busiest for years but some reason the papers are talking about it as a comeback for me.
‘Just to confirm @aplaceinthesun are a separate company running the website and affiliated business and have supported me continuously through-out which I’m eternally grateful for.
‘Here’s looking forward to the next one!’
This comes after Jonnie claimed that following his cancer diagnosis, he was ‘pushed aside for someone healthy’ by Channel 4, and that he was saddened when his contract was not extended.
The dad-of-three said, ‘But I didn’t get that support from A Place In The Sun.’ He’d been impressed by the assistance from Escape to the Country and A Place In The Sun Ltd, which manages the show’s exhibitions.
‘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?”
‘They said, “We don’t think we can get the insurance”, not “We can’t get the insurance”, but, “We don’t think…” That broke my heart and affected my mental health.’
He said that despite paying him for the rest of the season, the programme did not extend his contract.
‘Within two weeks, someone else was on TV performing my job,’ Jonnie, who has three children with his wife Jessica, told The Sun. I simply feel like I got a little more out of them after 18 years.’
He said he’s been ‘pushed to the side in favour of someone healthy’ and added: ‘It crushed my heart’.
Channel 4 and Freeform told the outlet in a statement: ‘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.
‘We, of course, understand how frustrating this must be for him at this incredibly difficult time.’
A Place In The Sun is available to watch on All4.
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