Barry McGuigan has opened up about a boxing injury that left him with a replacement plastic nose.
During Friday (November 22) night’s episode on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!, the fighting champion’s campmates gathered around to share details of their relationships with the sport.
Campmate Coleen Rooney was the first to chime in, revealing to Barry and McFly’s Danny Jones that she grew up sparring with her brothers. She told them: “My dad had us, me and my two brothers sparring each other when we were younger. He used to get us in the living room, we’ve got it all on video. I was Big Betty, my brother’s called Jo and he was Little Josie, and we used to have a ring walk.”
The 63-year-old former boxer then revealed a life-changing injury left him with a plastic nose. He said: “When I had it broken it was flat, so they just took the bone out and replaced it with plastic.”
Barry started fighting professionally in 1981 and had an impressive career, during which he held the British and European featherweight titles between 1983 and 1985. The Irish star was also inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005.
Taking the opportunity to learn from the professional, McFly’s Danny Jones then asked Barry for the best way to train for body shots, which the boxer was happy to demonstrate. The duo threw punches back-and-forth, with Danny landing five hits on Danny.
Later in the program, singer gushed to the Bush Telegraph: “Today my life was made because Barry McGuigan let me hit him in the stomach. I hit him really hard and it was solid, it was like hitting a brick wall.”
The oldest members of this year’s line-up, Barry was confident that he would play a mediator role for the younger campmates. Before entering the jungle, he said: “I’m the consoler when the guys have a hard day in the gym and they haven’t sparred particularly well.
“I’d like to think I’d be someone who would act as a ‘calmer downer’ if you like. Or I might get irritated. I really don’t know.”
I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!returns tomorrow at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX