Barry McGuigan's agonising family tragedy and why he'll never come to terms with daughter's death

Irish boxing legend Barry McGuigan is heading into the jungle for this year's series of I'm A Celebrity, but he's still grieving the loss of his daughter and doubts he will ever come to terms with it

I'm A Celebrity contestant Barry McGuigan said he will never "come to terms" with his daughter's death, after she passed away in 2019.

The former boxer has arrived in Australia, ahead of his stint on the ITV reality show. But Barry is still navigating the loss of his daughter Danika "Nika" McGuigan. She died in July 2019 aged just 33, a month after she was diagnosed with cancer. Danika was the only daughter of the Irish boxing legend and his wife Sandra, who also share three sons.

Nika was diagnosed with acute lymphoid leukaemia when she was 11 years old, but after two years of treatment, recovered from her illness. She went on to become an actress, starring in Jim Sheridan’s The Secret Scripture with Hollywood star Rooney Mara and Midsommar actor Jack Reynor.

But Barry's beloved daughter's life was tragically cut short when the disease returned, with Barry, 63, marking the anniversary of her death on social media in July last year. He wrote on Twitter: "It’s hard to believe that it’s four years today Nika since your passing. Don’t think we will ever come to terms with it. We love and miss you every day."

The "devastated" family shared the news in a statement in 2019, telling fans they were all with her until the end. It read: "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 23 July, 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.”

Barry previously opened up about the loss of Nika in 2021. As reported by Belfast Live, he explained how "tough" the transition to live without his daughter has been. He said: "I lost my daughter two years ago and it’s been shocking. I'll never recover from it. My life will go on but I’ll never be the same because family means everything to me.

"She was such a great kid. She had a tough life all her life. She had fever convulsions at nine months; she was dead on arrival at the hospital and they got her heart going again; she had leukaemia at 11, they said she would never get through it and she got through it.

"I get very upset about it. I try my best not to. I think, ‘I don’t want to cry again.’ But, yeah, tough. Very tough. If this had happened to me during my career, I could never have continued with that. I don’t know if I could have recovered from that as a fighter."

Barry McGuigan will enter the I'm A Celebrity jungle on Sunday night, alongside distant relative Coleen Rooney.

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