Jon Snow’s wife has opened up about his health condition during a documentary about the star’s life.
The 78-year-old broadcaster has been flooded with support in recent weeks after sharing he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s back in 2023.
Jon was the face of Channel 4 News from 1989 to 2021 and became one of the nation’s most trusted broadcasters before he decided to step down from his role after 32 years to focus on ‘longer-form projects’.
On Saturday evening (June 20), Jon shared his journey in an insightful Channel 4 documentary, Jon Snow: A Last Big Story, in association with the Alzheimer’s Society.
View 3 ImagesJon Snow has starred in a documentary detailing his Alzheimer’s diagnosis(Image: therealsnowc4/Instagram)
Jon’s wife, Dr Precious Lunga, starred alongside the veteran journalist on in the show. The 51-year-old is an epidemiologist and entrepreneur from Zimbabwe who left the country at 17 to study in the UK.
She graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1998 with a degree in neuroscience, before completing a PhD in neuroscience at the University of Cambridge in 2003.
The couple first met in 2001 on the Caribbean island of Mustique, where they tied the knot nine years later in 2010.
They welcomed a child together via surrogacy in 2021, with Jon also having two children from his previous marriage.
View 3 ImagesJon Snow is given a health update during his documentary (Image: Channel 4)
In one scene of the documentary, the camera followed Jon into a doctor’s appointment, where he was accompanied by Precious, and informed that his health has been slowly declining.
Precious responded to the doctor by adding that she felt Jon’s health had recently changed, before opening up about his initial diagnosis.
“When we received a diagnosis, people were writing Jon off, and that’s when I realised how stigmatised Alzheimer’s is, and it made me so angry actually”, Precious explained.
“This is a progressive disease, but you can have Alzheimer’s and still will be a valuable member of society to contribute, if your loved ones are there to help you navigate it.”
Speaking about what the future holds, Precious bravely confirmed: “So, I want to give him as good a life as I can.”
View 3 ImagesJon Snow and his wife Dr Precious Lunga share one child (Image: GETTY)
Speaking about his diagnosis in the film, Jon says: “At the beginning I wanted to hide it, there’s so much prejudice. Any sort of hint of mental decay, you’re sort of dead.
“There are moments when it pops up, but it’s not an all-day, every-day condition, and that’s what I cling onto.”
He added: “I’ve witnessed a great deal, I hope I’ve learned something – but I’ve still got a huge amount to learn. We all have. There’s still more to do.”
Jon Snow: A Last Big Story is streaming now on Channel4.com