The death of Jonnie Irwin last week devastated his fans, but for his devoted wife Jess, life will never, ever be the same.
Parents to sons Rex, four, and twins Rafa and Cormac, two, Jess and Jonnie met through mutual friends in 2016 and were married within a year after he popped the question in India.
Their love story was captivating and, showing the strength of his love amid his incurable cancer diagnosis, Jonnie made a “selfless” wish for Jess, even though it “broke his heart”.
Jonnie Irwin wanted wife Jess to meet someone else after his death
The Escape to the Country presenter told The Sun back in November 2022 that he felt “lucky” to have Jess “to lean on”.
And, it seems, Jonnie wanted the same for Jess after he was no longer here.
“In a selfless way I want her to find someone else eventually and have some support. But at the same time, I don’t. It breaks my heart. Jess is not the sort to go on a dating app and in a perfect world I suppose she will meet a divorcé dad or someone who has lost their partner. But it’s not my business, I guess. That’s her life, as much as it hurts me to think this way,” he said.
Throughout his illness, Jonnie described Jess as his angel. He described how she put up with him on his “dark days” and said that he loved her “more every day”.
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Making memories for their boys
He also made sure that he made plenty of memories. Jonnie explained this was so that Jess could tell their young boys all about the things they did with their dad in case they don’t remember it.
The family enjoyed a trip to Cyprus and Jonnie surprised Jess with a trip to Paris.
He said: “I want to make those memories for Jess. Even if the kids don’t remember it, so if she looks at the photo album when I’m long gone she can say to the boys: ‘Here’s the time your dad chucked you in a pool’ or ‘here’s the time we went for that day out’.”
Jess’ tribute to Jonnie
Jess paid tribute to her husband on Instagram, after Jonnie’s death was announced on his social media page.
“Goodnight my favourite. Thank you for everything. I will always love you,” Jess shared.
She added: “He has given me more than I could ever have wished for. Eight bonkers years of love and adventure and three amazing boys. I will continue to make you proud but only with your love still finding me and guiding me for the rest of my life, me and the boys still need you.”
Read more: Escape to the Country’s tribute to Jonnie Irwin leaves viewers in floods of tears
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