I’m A Celebrity 2024 contestant Barry McGuigan had his campmates – and half the British public – in tears last night, with his candour and vulnerability when talking about the death of his daughter Danika “Nika” McGuigan.
Danika died in 2019 from bowel cancer at the age of 33.
“We’re all here for you Barry,” his fellow jungle dwellers reassured him. He explained that he felt guilty, or somehow out of turn, to be openly grieving his daughter’s death five years on.
Fans quickly took to X to call him an “utter gem of a human”. Barry’s son Shane also spoke out to thank his campmates for comforting him.
He wrote on Instagram: “Thank you to all the other campmates comforting Dad. We appreciate it immensely,” followed by two broken heart emojis.
Barry McGuigan daughter
Born in January 1986, Danika “Nika” McGuigan was a Northern Irish actress.
She was the second of Barry’s four children, and his only daughter. Barry and his wife Sandra have been married for over four decades, having tied the knot in 1981.
He was 20 at the time, and is still “madly in love” with her, according to Evoke.
Danika spent her childhood in Clones, County Monaghan, until the family relocated to rural Kent.
She first received her acute lymphoblastic leukaemia diagnosis at the age of 11, in 1997.
As Barry said during last night’s episode of I’m A Celebrity, she recovered from the illness after two years of chemotherapy, undergoing treatment at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London.
However, in mid 2019, she was diagnosed with advanced stage bowel cancer. According to her obituary in The Irish Times, her illness progressed “rapidly,” and she died in July that year.
Danika was just 33 years old when she died.
Her agent Karl Hayden, at Dublin’s The Agency, described her as “an incredible and versatile talent who lit up our screens with her undeniable presence, sensitivity and superb comic timing”.
On I’m A Celebrity last night, the conversation about Barry’s late daughter started with a question about whether or not Barry goes to church. He explained that he used to “incessantly,” but after Danika passed away, he stopped going as much.
Barry on I’m A Celebrity
He told his campmates about her leukaemia diagnosis.
“She fought back and she won it,” he said of Danika’s initial recovery. Then he started to cry, and his campmates told him he had their full support.
“We’re all here for you, Barry,” one said. “Just let it out.”
He said he felt negatively towards grieving so openly, five years on from Nika’s death, but they rallied around him.
Tulisa Contostavlos on I’m A Celeb
Tulisa said it best.
“You’re a man going through pain,” Tulisa Contostavlos told Barry, to help him quash any guilt or self-admonition.
“And you’re being vulnerable about it. That takes strength. There’s no rules to grieving, Barry. You feel what you feel. It’s a reflection of your love, the extent that you’re holding onto a memory.
“That doesn’t mean that you’re weak. It means, ‘This is how much I love my daughter, and I’m grieving.'”
Meanwhile, social media users have been rallying around him, expressing their appreciation for his display of vulnerability.
“Barry you utter gem of a human!” one viewer wrote on X. “Sobbing at this open, honest chat and what a supportive bunch of campmates.”
You’re being vulnerable about it. That takes strength.
“Barry has my heart. I’m actually sobbing,” wrote another.
“Protect him at all costs,” penned a third. “Please, I can’t. Barry talking about losing a child hits really hard when you have a baby of your own.”
“Barry crying = me crying,” a fourth tweeted. “The man is just a big cuddly teddy bear with a huge heart.”
Another admitted: “Seeing Barry upset broke my heart into pieces. Poor guy.”
I’m A Celebrity continues on November 19 from 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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