Jon Snow, the renowned broadcaster who anchored Channel 4 News for over three decades, is set to share his personal Alzheimer's journey in a new documentary. The 78-year-old journalist, who stepped down from his role in 2021 after 32 years to focus on longer-form projects, revealed his diagnosis in 2023. His upcoming documentary, Jon Snow: A Last Big Story, airs tonight (June 20) on Channel 4.
Jon Snow's Wife: Dr. Precious Lunga
Jon Snow is married to Dr. Precious Lunga, a 51-year-old epidemiologist and entrepreneur from Zimbabwe. She left her home country at age 17 to study in the UK, earning a degree in neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh in 1998 and a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Cambridge in 2003. The couple met in 2001 on the Caribbean island of Mustique and married nine years later in 2010.
Jon Snow's Children
Jon Snow has three children: Leila, Freya, and a baby boy. His first two daughters, Leila and Freya, are from his long-term relationship with human rights lawyer Madeleine Colvin, which lasted 35 years. His youngest child, a son, was born via surrogacy with his wife Precious in 2021.
Leila
Leila, Jon's eldest child at 42, previously ran a tea room called High Tea of Highgate, which closed in March 2018. The tea room was popular, and Jon even tweeted about it in 2015, saying, "Sunny coffee at my daughter Leila’s cafe High Tea in London’s Highgate… not bad at all in fact delightful."
Freya
Freya, 38, is Jon's younger daughter and a lawyer specializing in social issues, with a particular interest in defending protest cases. In a 2016 interview with The Guardian, Jon spoke about his close relationship with his two eldest children, expressing concerns about children's reliance on electronic devices and advocating for traditional parenting practices like reading to children at night.
Baby Boy
Jon's youngest child is a baby boy born via surrogacy in March 2021. After the birth, Jon expressed gratitude to their surrogate, noting that his wife had suffered numerous medical setbacks and miscarriages before the successful surrogacy. He said, "In our desire to seal our now 11 years of marriage with a baby, my wife suffered numerous medical setbacks and miscarriages. Consequently, we will always be deeply grateful to our surrogate, who carried our embryo to term. Amid these challenging times, we feel doubly blessed to be able to celebrate our good fortune."
Jon Snow: A Last Big Story airs on Channel 4 on Saturday, June 20 at 8pm.
