A Place in the Sun’s Jasmine Harman: “Terrified” By Husband’s Harrowing Health Scare

Imagine the scene: sun-drenched Spain, a beautiful old house brimming with potential, and Jasmine Harman, the ever-optimistic face of “A Place in the Sun,” embarking on a new adventure – renovating a home with her husband, Jon. Their journey, intended for a charming Channel 4 series, quickly morphed into something far more real, more raw, and frankly, more terrifying.

The cameras were rolling, capturing every moment of this ambitious project in Estepona. Joy, 12, and Albion, nine, their children, flitted about, adding to the family atmosphere. But then, the unthinkable happened. What started as a typical day took a dramatic turn, with Jon suddenly falling ill. Those idyllic scenes screeched to a halt.

The episode aired, revealing Jon being rushed to the hospital. Doctors delivered the crushing news: a heart attack. Can you imagine the fear, the sheer panic that must have gripped Jasmine?

Earlier in the show, Jon had touched upon a sensitive subject – heart problems ran in his family. He even shared the heartbreaking story of his sister Jo, who tragically passed away in 2016 at just 40 years old due to sudden arrhythmic death syndrome. This was already a shadow hanging over them, wasn’t it? And now, this.

Then, just weeks later, in May, Jon suffered that heart attack.

In a deeply personal interview, Jasmine opened up about the ordeal. Thankfully, Jon is on the mend. But this brush with mortality, compounded by the recent losses of close friends, notably “A Place in the Sun” colleague Jonnie Irwin, has profoundly shifted her perspective. Jonnie succumbed to cancer in February 2024, a devastating loss at only 50. Adding to their grief, they’d also mourned Hairy Bikers star, Dave Myers, a long-time friend of Jon’s, who passed away the previous year. His widow, Lili, even visited their renovation project during the early stages of filming, and that now feels like another lifetime.

“Jon is fine now,” Jasmine disclosed, “and he is back working.” A wave of relief, right? But she went on to share something even more profound. “Even with the background of what could have happened and worrying he could have died; it makes you feel lucky he just had a mild heart attack and everything is fine.”

These challenges, she explains, have enabled her to weather difficulties with greater resilience.

This cardiac event became the unexpected core of their renovation story, the true reason behind the “nightmare” Jasmine had vaguely hinted at before the series even premiered. It’s not just about tiles and paint; it’s about life, loss, and learning to appreciate what you have.

Jasmine admitted this experience shook her previous need for control. As she puts it, “You can’t control anything in life unfortunately, except your own responses to situations. I used to be quite a control freak but now I feel I am able to go much more with the flow and not let things get under my skin.”

Recalling the day Jon fell ill, Jasmine paints a vivid picture: “We’d just had lunch and he said he started to feel funny and strange. He went to lie down but he then started to get very agitated and said there was a tightening in his chest. He was having a bit of trouble breathing and everything that was touching him was annoying him. I immediately called the ambulance as soon as he said he felt funny.”

Early in the year, Jon had also fractured his leg playing padel tennis, a setback that led to thrombosis during his recovery. Imagine dealing with all of that?

Despite the fear fueled by the knowledge of his thrombosis, Jasmine somehow kept her composure. “As he had thrombosis from the leg break, it was obviously scary but I don’t know why, something inside me was saying: ‘don’t panic, it’s going to be fine’. I was very calm.”

At the hospital, the Spanish doctors acted swiftly to reassure Jon. “They told us he’d had a mild heart attack and immediately started doing some tests,” Jasmine says. His family history had already prompted regular screenings, and now, they’re keeping an even closer watch. He is currently medicated and under close observation.

This experience, Jasmine confesses, has served as a powerful lesson: “It’s definitely taught me a lot about how responses shape our experience to whatever happens.” What does that mean, really?

She elaborates: “There was a time if I was late for the school drop off, I would get stressed and furious. Now I’m like, ‘OK, the traffic is bad but we can’t help it’. Life is what you make of it. If you don’t ever take a chance or a risk, like we did by moving to Spain, you will never do anything new. It is worth it to dream big and take a risk that your heart tells you to do.” It is worth it to chase that dream.

Jasmine also emphasized the crucial role her mother, Vasoulla, played during the crisis, flying in from the UK to support the family. “With Jon also breaking his leg, now when I look back on everything, I don’t know how I did it. What I do know is I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my mum. When she arrived, I let go of all the pressure and the stress and said: ‘right I need to focus on things’ and do it in a way to not overwhelm or burn myself out.”

The move to Spain, she insists, remains a cherished decision, spurred in part by the heartbreaking loss of Jon’s sister years ago. “She was fit, well and very healthy,” Jasmine remembers. “It was a very big shock.”

“We are really enjoying living in Spain. We are now doing the stuff we wouldn’t be doing if we were still in London and so it is the lifestyle that we’ve appreciated so much.”

So, is a return to the UK on the cards?

“Jon and I have never been big planners,” she replies with a smile. “Who knows? We will go with the flow. Of course, we all miss our friends but we have been making new friends and the kids are really happy.”

About the renovation, she adds, “A renovation can be challenging but it can also be so rewarding. It’s important to go with the flow and be grateful for every experience.”

Looking ahead, Jasmine is determined to embrace every moment in Spain. She also anticipates filming new episodes of “A Place in the Sun,” hoping to guide others in transforming properties into their dream homes. “Maybe I could help other people renovate their place in the sun,” Jasmine muses. “I love the human stories behind A Place In The Sun and the house hunt is a vehicle to get to know their story, why they decided to do it and why they deserve it. Anything I can do to help change people’s lives and be brave, I’m up for it.”

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