I'm A Celeb: Ant and Dec talk about Barry discussing daughter's death
Ant McPartlin confessed that watching Barry McGuigan discuss his daughter's death deeply affected him. The hosts of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!appeared on the ITV2 spin-off show, I'm A Celebrity ...Unpacked, shortly after some heart-wrenching scenes aired on the main programme.
During the second episode of the 2024 series, viewers saw McGuigan comforted by his campmates as he became emotional discussing his late daughter, who tragically died five weeks after being diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2019.
Ant, who recently became a father for the first time, revealed to hosts Joel Dommett, Kemi Rodgers and reigning King of the Jungle Sam Thompson, that he had watched the emotional scenes before the 9pm broadcast. "That really got me," the new dad admitted.
"We watched it earlier in the day, before the show, and I was crying," he continued. "I can't imagine losing a child and he didn't want to go there but he couldn't help it. I thought the campmates were really lovely with him."
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The former boxing champion's daughter, Danika 'Nika' McGuigan, sadly died at the age of 33 on July 23, 2019, following her second battle with cancer. The Dublin-based star, known for her role as Danielle in the BBC Three comedy Can't Cope, Won't Cope, initially beat leukaemia after two years of treatment when she was diagnosed at the age of 11.
McGuigan shared a heartbreaking tale with his jungle campmates: "She had leukaemia, when I was making the movie The Boxer with Daniel Day Lewis, three weeks from the end I had to leave because she'd been diagnosed with leukaemia, they thought she wasn't going to get better but she fought back and she won it. She had two years of chemo, she was good, she came back."
As McGuigan opened up, his emotional story brought the camp together. McFly's Danny Jones and N-Dubz's Tulisa Contostavlos embraced him in comfort.
"You're a man going through pain and you're vulnerable about it, that takes strength. There is no rules to grieving... it's a reflection of your love," Tulisa consoled him.
Grateful for the support, McGuigan responded: "Thank you, you're all so lovely, I really appreciate it," before revealing more about his daughter's valiant struggle with cancer.
"It was hard for weeks in the hospital, just watching, shocking," he recounted, tearfully recalling how his daughter had achieved recognition for her role in 'Wildfire,' which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020, and yet, "(She) never got to see the opening of it."
In a candid conversation with Loose Women's Jane Moore, McGuigan relived the harrowing final moments of his daughter's life.
"Stage 4 bowel cancer, five weeks, five weeks she died," McGuigan uttered mournfully.
In a heartfelt statement released at that tragic time, the family conveyed their profound grief: "It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of our beautiful daughter and sister, Danika 'Nika' McGuigan. After a brief but brave battle against cancer, Nika passed away peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday July 23, surrounded by her loving family. As a family, we are devastated and ask for complete privacy during this difficult period to allow us to grieve for our Nika."
