ITV Im A Celebrity Barry McGuigan's heartbreak over daughter's shock death he'll 'never recover from'

I'm A Celebrity star Barry McGuigan admitted he will "never recover" from losing his beloved daughter to cancer.

The former boxer, who is currently starring in this year's series of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! on ITV, previously opened up about the 33-year-old's death, saying it was the "most shocking thing" to lose a child.

Danika was an actress and best known for playing Danielle Mullane in Can't Cope, Won't Cope. She passed away in July 2019 following a short battle with leukaemia.

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Speaking on The Tommy Tiernan Show in 2022, boxing champion Barry fought back tears as he recalled his daughter's death. "I'll never recover from it," he said. "My life will go on but I’ll never be the same because family means everything to me."

Barry described his daughter as a "great kid" but admitted she had had a "tough life all her life". Danika, also known as Nika, battled cancer twice, the first time when she was diagnosed with leukaemia at just 11 years old. Nika died after being diagnosed with cancer for the second time at the age of 33, just over a month after complaining of pains in her stomach.

"It just happened like that," Barry said. "She’d been working on a movie with Cathy Brady and we didn’t know there was anything wrong. Then she complained about pains in her tummy and we’d done bloods at the end of April and they all came up clear.

"Then in June, she said that these pains had gotten too bad and she said, ‘I’m just going to go in and get checked myself.’ And then all hell breaks loose – right into the hospital, into the doctor, and all the bad news.

"She died five weeks later. Just like that. It was just shocking. It was a shocking, horrible time."

At the time of Danika's death the family released a statement saying they were "devastated". The statement 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. As a family we are devastated and ask for complete privacy during this difficult period to allow us to grieve for our Nika."

Nika's brother, Shane, wrote on X, which was called Twitter at the time, that he had memories to "cherish for a lifetime". He said: "It breaks my heart to write this. My beautiful sister Danika lost her battle with cancer in the early hours of Tuesday morning, at the young age of 33.

"She overcame it once with a two year fight when she was 11 to 13. Myself, my brothers & parents were privileged to have another 20 years since the first battle with our amazing Nika. Unfortunately Nika couldn't beat it again, but she fought so bravely until the end."

Barry had previously recalled his daughter's first cancer battle in an interview in 2005. He said hearing his daughter's diagnosis was like "being hit with a sledgehammer". He told the Sunday Times: "No amount of fighting in the ring could have prepared me for it."

In 2011, he told the Mirror that Nika was "incredibly strong and positive" during the ordeal. "God, did she fight. I was so proud of her. I've never seen such will power," he said.

Barry has three other children - Shane, Jake and Blane - with his wife Sandra.