World enews: Jonnie Irwin jokes he’s ‘whacked’ after attending The Streets gig in Newcastle

TV star Jonnie Irwin has shared an upbeat post about attending a Streets gig shortly after receiving cancer treatment.

Irwin, 49, has been sharing regular updates with his followers ever since announcing he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2022.

On Friday 3 November, the former A Place in the Sun presenter attended The Streets’ concert at the O2 City Hall in Newcastle, where he relocated with his family in 2020, with a friend.

Sharing photos and video clips to his Instagram page, he told fans he was “so glad” he’d gone, despite being “whacked today”.

“What a night!” he said. “Probs should be resting after radiotherapy to my Swede the day before but F it right?! More about that later.”

He added: “So glad I went especially as he played all the classics. [Frontman Mike Skinner] had the place pumping. Pretty whacked today but worth it.”

Irwin shares three young sons with his wife, Jessica Holmes. Since his diagnosis, he has been praised for his transparency about his condition, and his experiences with various cancer treatments.

In July this year, he discussed his “really good” experience with palliative care, which focuses on improving the quality of life for anyone facing a life-threatening condition.

Irwin said that he has been in palliative care since the day he received his terminal cancer diagnosis. He was first diagnosed with lung cancer in August 2020, but only publicly shared the news in November 2022 after it spread to his brain.

His hospice experience was a “delight”, he said, challenging his initial perception that such facilities were “very much a boiling hot room full of people who looked frail and towards the end of their days”.

Jonnie Irwin urges people to ‘embrace’ hospice care after ‘amazing’ experience

(BBC News)

In September, he made his long-awaited return to TV when he hosted a new episode of Escape to the Country on BBC One.

In a social media post ahead of the new Escape to the Country episode, the presenter said he went down to Somerset to “look at some fantastic rural properties” and visit a cider farm.

More recently, in October, Irwin revealed he was fighting a chest infection in between some Halloween fun with his kids.

“Probs should’ve stayed inside with my chest infection but would’ve got too much FOMO missing out on visiting uncle @maccaholmes allotment,” he wrote in one post.

“Sometimes I need a push and seeing the lads enjoy picking some apples, and pumpkins was superb. Unfortunately feeding @jessofjesmond obsession with Halloween is a downside!”

A week later, he shared that he was trying to get over the chest infection with antibiotics, as well as a session in a hyperbaric chamber and another in the salt room at the Sereniti wellness centre in Gateshead.