Boxer's daughter died at 33 before winning prestigious acting award

4 days ago 9

Just three days into I’m A Celebrity series 24, and Danny Jones feels as though he’s known former boxer Barry McGuigan “for 20 years.” This year’s cast is being hailed as “one of the most likable ever,” as Colleen Rooney, GK Barry, Tulisa, and co get settled into camp.

As the I’m A Celebrity stars begin their weeks of Bushtucker Trials and Dingo Dollar Challenges, ITV viewers are set to see them in a new light – different from the glitz and glam of the showbiz world. As the campmates get to know one another on day three, Barry opens up about how he lost his daughter to cancer. The former boxer is commended for his vulnerability as he breaks down in tears.

Barry McGuigan frowns looking upset as he opens up about daughter's death on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

Barry opens up about his daughter’s death

During I’m A Celebrity series 24, Barry McGuigan breaks down in tears over the untimely death of his daughter. She passed away in 2019.

“I used to go to church a lot and after my daughter, not as much. I used to go incessantly. When you lose a child… she had leukemia,” he tells the group.

He explains how he was filming a boxing movie with Daniel Day-Lewis and “three weeks from the end,” he “had to leave because she’d been diagnosed with leukemia,” aged 11.

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Barry adds: “They thought she wasn’t going to get better but she did, she fought back and she won it. She had two years of chemo.”

Before breaking down in tears, the 63-year-old said: “She was good, she came back and…”

The campmates gather around him, showing they are “there for him,” and encourage the former boxing star to “let it out.”

Although Barry’s daughter, Danika McGuigan, overcame leukemia in her youth, she was later diagnosed with breast cancer and the disease tragically took her life.

The ITV star explains how his daughter’s passing was five years ago as he cries. Tulisa tells him: “There’s no rules to grieving, Barry. You feel what you feel. It’s a reflection of your love.”

Danika was an award-winning actress

“Brave” Barry shows his vulnerability during the November 18 episode. He describes the “weeks” he spent in the hospital with his daughter when she was fighting cancer.

He explains she’d “done all this work” to carve out a successful acting career for herself, adding: “She’d just made her first movie and won the Toronto Film Festival… she never even got to see the opening night.”

Speaking of his late daughter, Barry recalled her telling her mom: “I can’t go on,” after “suffering so much pain.”

Danika was 33 years old when she died after a brief battle with breast cancer.

She was posthumously awarded Best Actress at the 2021 IFTA Awards for her final role in Wildfire, an Irish drama thriller movie that came out in 2020.

Barry’s daughter was also well-known for playing the role of Danielle Mullane in Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope, a comedy-drama TV series.

If you or someone you know has been affected by this story, you can contact the Cancer Support Helpline, run by counselors and resource specialists, on 1-888-793-9355 or the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345.

In the UK, Cancer Research UK telephone lines are open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday at 0808 800 4040, and Macmillan 8am-8pm every day at 0808 808 000.

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