As the face of Channel 4 News from 1989 to 2021, Jon Snow spent over three decades becoming one of the nation’s most trusted and deeply respected broadcasters.
On Friday, the 78-year-old opened up about a deeply personal new chapter, revealing his 2023 diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia.
Currently participating in a clinical trial, Jon is set to share his journey in an upcoming Channel 4 documentary, Jon Snow: A Last Big Story, airing later this month.
Before he takes us behind the scenes of his diagnosis, find out all you need to know about his life off-camera.
Who is Jon Snow’s wife
Jon lives in north London with his wife, Dr Precious Lunga.
Precious, 51, is an epidemiologist and entrepreneur from Zimbabwe, who left the African country aged 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.
© Getty ImagesDedicated to researching HIV, Precious was a founding member of Europrise, which is a consortium of HIV vaccine and microbicide researchers. She also sits on the board of the UK Medical Research Council, having worked with UNAIDS Geneva and participated in anti-HIV microbicide trials.
When they’re not in London, Jon and Precious spend time at their thatched cottage on the North Wessex Downs.
Jon and Precious’ marriage and family life
Jon and Precious first met in 2001 on the Caribbean island of Mustique, where they tied the knot nine years later in 2010.
The couple welcomed a baby boy named Tafara via a surrogate in March 2021 after a period of “medical setbacks and miscarriages”.
Sharing his wife’s desire to have a child, Jon told the Saga Exceptional publication in 2021: “Having him was not easy but we persisted because, at 48, my wife is a good deal younger than me, and she very much wanted and deserved a baby.”
© Getty ImagesOpening up about becoming a father again in his 70s, he continued: “When he was born, life felt complete.
“I’m at complete ease with late fatherhood. I don’t feel I’ll drop him, I don’t feel exhausted,” he shared. “I haven’t found age relevant to my relationship with my son or grandsons. Is being a grandad different to being a dad? Not really. In the end, it’s all love, isn’t it?”
Jon was previously in a three-decade relationship with the human rights lawyer Madeleine Colvin for 35 years, with whom he shares two daughters.
Jon Snow: A Last Big Story
The feature-length documentary, made in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Society, follows Jon and his wife Precious as they come to terms with the broadcaster’s diagnosis, while Jon also undergoes an investigation into a Zambian community whose land and water have been decimated by a mining disaster.
© Courtesy of Channel 4/Basement FilmsSpeaking about his diagnosis in the film, Jon said: “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 will air on Channel 4 on Saturday 20 June at 8pm.
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