Australian interior design star, 45, dies just 10 months on from shock cancer diagnosis – leaving behind her heartbroken husband and two boys

An interior design star has died just 10 months after she was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer – leaving behind her husband and their two young sons.

Jen Bishop, a former journalist best known as Interiors Addict, told her followers she had quietly spent months in hospital after receiving a shock terminal diagnosis in October 2025.

The 45-year-old, from Sydney, had detailed her struggles behind closed doors, revealing she was in such excruciating pain that her symptoms made it impossible for her to be at home.

On Monday, her husband Damian Francis broke the news that his wife had lost her fight over the weekend after a ‘short but intensely brave battle’. 

‘I’m very proud and honoured to have called you my wife and my best friend. So very grateful for the love, guidance and support you have given me, and so very privileged to have raised two amazing children with you,’ Damian said in an emotional tribute.

‘What I loved most about you was the fact that you were so special. So special to so many people, not just me.

‘Yes, you were a successful business owner, a popular social media influencer, a terrific journalist, and a brilliant mind. But what made you so special was how you saw the world around you and reacted to it.’

He confirmed his wife – who he has been with for almost 18 years – died on a ‘rainy’ Sydney evening on Sunday, August 9.

‘I miss you so, so, so much. My heart is being squeezed so hard. Like your life, the agony is outstanding. But that’s a testament to how wonderful and amazing you were,’ he said. 

‘As the boys and I settle into this new world of you watching over us from afar, but letting me do all the driving, I miss you Jen Francis. Our boys miss you.’

Jen had spent almost four months in hospital, undergoing multiple surgeries and two types of intense chemotherapy treatments – all ‘while struggling with the mental anguish of carrying a terminal disease’. 

Damian went on to praise his wife for giving him the best gift of their two ‘wonderful’ boys – Sebastian and Charlie.

‘Boys who I can already see multiple signs of your gorgeous soul in,’ he explained. 

‘Your legacy and actions will live on in them, and I will do everything in my power to give them every opportunity to be as great as you were, and get to know you as well as I did.’ 

Just a week before she died, Damian said the mum got up in the early hours of Saturday morning so she could cheer on her son Sebastian at his sporting match.

‘Battling unbearable pain and fatigue, you made sure you were there to witness Sebastian score the final goal of the season for his school team. Hero,’ he said.

Signing off his tribute as ‘your loving, devastated, heartbroken but insanely proud husband’, Damian said: ‘May your beautiful soul rest in eternal peace. 

‘May you look down upon your family and continue to guide them through life. Thank you. For everything. A standing ovation for a life lived brilliantly.’ 

Damian encouraged family, friends and fans to donate to Pancare Foundation Australia, saying ‘Jen would have been thrilled to raise more money’. 

Thousands have paid tribute to the interior design icon, including The Block judge Darren Palmer.

‘There are many words to describe Jen.  Bright, dedicated, warm, kind, generous, a friend, and as Damian said, most of all special. There are so many more words to describe Jen, but so few to convey the sadness of you not being here,’ he said. 

‘You will be missed by so many who loved you, myself included, and the world is a little less bright without you and your lipstick smile in it.

‘My heart is with Damian and the boys and all that loved Jen.’

In December, Jen revealed she had been given ‘devastating and life-changing news’. 

‘Home is SO important to me, I even made a job out of talking about it. And having been stuck in hospital for five weeks, away from my sanctuary and my boys, I’ve never craved it more,’ she said.

‘I’m going through the hardest time of my life and I’m finally sharing it here in the way I hope you’ve always known me to; with authenticity, realness and hope.

‘I’ve been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Sadly it’s causing me so much physical pain, I can’t manage it at home. Being stuck in hospital, on top of keeping this secret, has been very isolating.

‘Our precious boys are our number one priority and we are being very well supported by our medical team and amazing friends and family. I can’t say enough about the huge role my husband is playing in keeping us together.

‘Despite the gravity of the situation, I only have to look at my boys to know I cannot give up hope.’

In May, her friend Kelly confirmed the chemotherapy was no longer working for Jen – after the cancer had returned in her lymph nodes and liver.

Jen shared pictures of herself celebrating her 45th birthday in her final post on Instagram, saying: ‘I really wasn’t sure I’d make it, having been in hospital for a week earlier… and my health not 100 per cent. But I made it.

‘My cup was overflowing, and I’ll be feeling the love for a long time to come. On a serious note, this year, and this birthday, have been very emotional for obvious reasons, and it felt so damn great to be pretty NORMAL.’

Originally from the UK, Jen moved to Australia in 2008 for a one-year stint. However, she never returned home after meeting her now-husband Damian.

The couple have been married for almost 13 years after spending five years together. 

Jen was a former newspaper journalist and magazine editor before she started Interiors Addict in 2011. What started as a blogging hobby turned into one of Australia’s most popular interior websites, with 150,000 readers.