Jonnie Irwin dead: Escape to the Country star’s family lead tributes to ‘remarkable soul’

Irwin was best known as the presenter of Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun, in which he helped British property hunters find homes abroad.

“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of Jonnie’s passing. A truly remarkable soul, he fought bravely against cancer with unwavering strength and courage. Jonnie touched the lives of so many with his kindness, warmth, and infectious spirit,” the post read alongside a photo of Irwin and his wife Jessica Holmes.

TV presenter Jonnie Irwin has died aged 50, his agent has confirmed.

A statement on his Instagram account said: “It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of Jonnie’s passing.

“A truly remarkable soul, he fought bravely against cancer with unwavering strength and courage.

“Jonnie touched the lives of so many with his kindness, warmth and infectious spirit.

“At this time, we kindly ask for the privacy of Jonnie’s family as they navigate through this profound loss.

“Their grief is immeasurable and your thoughts, prayers and support are deeply appreciated.”

Irwin graudated from University of Central England with a BSC in estate management. The university said on X: “We are deeply saddened to hear about the loss of BCU alumnus Jonnie Irwin.

“Our thoughts are with Jonnie’s wife Jessica, his sons Rex, Rafa and Cormac, and his family and friends.”

John Comerford, head of Naked West and executive producer of Escape to the Country said: ‘We are incredibly saddened to hear the news about Jonnie.

‘He has been at the very heart of Escape to the Country for 14 years and will be a huge loss to our production team and all the viewers who have loved watching him on the show.

‘Jonnie was clever, warm and funny, never short of a mischievous and insightful line and always put the programme’s contributors at ease. All the teams he worked with loved him.

‘He is an unimaginable loss to the Escape family. We send our love and heartfelt condolences to Jess and his beautiful boys.’

Jonnie joined A Place in the Sun in 2004 and presented alongside Jasmine Harman, filming over 200 episodes together.

Here we look back at his life and career:

A spokesperson for A Place in the Sun said: “We are heartbroken. Jonnie was a much loved part of the A Place in the Sun family and for more than 18 years he brought joy, wit and bundles of energy to the show.

“We will miss him terribly. Our thoughts today are with Jess and the boys and the rest of Jonnie’s family.”

Astrologer and media personality Russell Grant said: “I’m so deeply deeply upset that Jonnie Irwin has left us.

“One of the brightest most brilliant TV talents he made the programmes he presented with his light, bright, witty warmth a joy to watch. May his wife, sons and family be comforted on this sad day.”

Rob Unsworth, head of BBC Daytime and Early Peak Commissioning, said: “Jonnie Irwin was an extraordinary man and wonderful presenter.

“He brought such warmth and fun to Escape to the Country, where he was a firm favourite with not just viewers, but the production team too.

“More recently, he did some truly inspirational reports for Morning Live about his illness, tackling taboos around end of life care, and wonderfully demonstrating the limitless positivity that he brought to everything he did. His kindness will be hugely missed by everyone he worked with, and we are sending all of our thoughts to his family and friends at this sad time.”

Former Gogglebox star Stephen Lustig-Webb wrote: “Rest in peace, always came across as a thoroughly decent person! So sad, love n hugs to him family.”

Lustig-Webb’s mother Pat Webb died after a “long illness” earlier this week.