Barry McGuigan’s son has spoken out following his dad’s emotional scenes on I’m A Celebrity. The 63-year-old former boxer was seen in tears on Monday night’s episode as he discussed the tragic death of his daughter, Danika.
His son, Shane McGuigan, took to Instagram to thank his dad’s campmates for their support, writing: “Thank you to all the other campmates supporting dad. We appreciate it immensely.”
Barry and his wife Sandra, who he married in 1981, had four children together – sons Shane, Jake, Blain, and daughter Danika, affectionately known as Nika. However, the family was left devastated in 2019 when Nika died at the age of 33 after a battle with cancer.
In heart-wrenching scenes around the campfire in Australia, Barry shared his daughter’s final words before she passed away. He left his fellow celebrities and viewers at home in tears as he recalled that Danika said: “Mum, I can’t hold on” before she slipped away, the Mirror reports.
Surrounded by his campmates, Barry continued: “She had leukaemia, when I was making 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.”
Join the Daily Record’s WhatsApp community hereand get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
Barry opened up to ‘Loose Women’ panellist Jane Moore about Danika’s health struggles, revealing she had “pains in her tummy” but delayed seeing a doctor until she was diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer. Overcome with emotion, he said: “Five weeks, five weeks she died.”
His heartbreaking revelation moved his fellow celebrities to tears, prompting them to envelop him in hugs and support.
The poignant moment also touched viewers at home, with many expressing their sorrow on social media. One viewer posted: “Barry man.. don’t do this to me. That’s actually heartbreaking. No parent should ever lose their child. #ImACeleb.”
Another commented: “Barry. You got me out the blue there,” while a third shared: “Oh my God my heart is breaking for Barry McGuigan #imacelebrity #ImACeleb.”
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here.