Fans were left shocked when Barry McGuigan was one of the latest campmates to leave I’m A Celebrity. And in his first post-jungle interview, he couldn’t fight the tears when speaking about his late daughter, Danika.
Barry opened up to his campmates quite quickly in the jungle. He broke down in tears when he was recalling the death of his daughter, who was just 33 years old when she passed away.
This morning on Good Morning Britain, hosts Kate Garraway and Rob Rinder spoke to the boxer about the upsetting scenes – and things got emotional.
I’m A Celebrity Barry McGuigan breaks down in interview
Barry said: “It’s the single most devastating thing that has happened to me. Losing my daughter was dreadful. I have never recovered from it.”
However, despite his heartbreak, Barry knows that talking about it makes him feel closer to her.
“It’s important that I do chat about it. I know she is there somewhere. Her life was so sad. The most important time in her life, when things were looking good, she got cancer and died.”
The 63 year-old confessed there was a time he was “not able to talk about it at all”, but as time went on he realised the importance of him doing so.
He admitted: “Me and my wife have never really recovered from it, and I don’t think we ever will. But time teaches us how to deal with it.”
The star couldn’t hide his heartbreak, as he broke down in tears while speaking. The hosts asked if he felt talking about it in the jungle helped him, and he explained how the conversation actually came around.
“In there all you can do is talk. I got this tattoo on my arm after Nika passed. Jane Moore asked ‘Who is that lovely child?’ That’s all I needed.”
Barry on opening up in the jungle
Barry acknowledged his upset, explaining he does “choke up” every time he speaks about her.
He explained: “People say ‘Get over it’, but when you love somebody as much as I loved her, it’s almost impossible. I try my best and in time it will get better. But her passing and how terribly sad and painful it was, it’s so hard to cope with.”
Kate and Rob assured Barry that he had nothing to apologise for after he said sorry for crying. Kate tried to give him some comfort by adding: “We can see the emotion pouring out of you. Everybody just wanted to hug you then and hug you now.”
Danika passed away in 2019 after a tough battle with cancer. She had history of health issues, following a leukaemia battle when she was just 11 years old.
Read more: I’m A Celebrity Barry McGuigan and Maura Higgins leave in shock eviction
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