Ant McPartlin moved to tears as I'm a celeb campmate Barry McGuigan opens up about daughter's death

Ant McPartlin has admitted that watching Barry McGuigan discuss the devastating loss of his daughter "really got" to him. The co-hosts of the I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! were discussing poignant moments on their ITV2 sister show, I'm A Celebrity...Unpacked, shortly after some heartfelt scenes were broadcast on the main programme.

During the second episode of the 2024 series, the audience saw McGuigan receive comfort from fellow campmates as he shared emotional memories of his late daughter, who tragically passed away just five weeks after a bowel cancer diagnosis in 2019. Ant, who celebrated becoming a father for the first time this year, opened up to presenters Joel Dommett, Kemi Rodgers and previous winner Sam Thompson, admitting that he watched the moving sequence earlier that day before the 9pm show.

"We watched it earlier in the day, before the show, and I was crying," he went on to admit."I can't image losing a child and he didn't want to go there but he couldn't help it. I thought the campmates were really lovely with him."

He noted how McGuigan tried to avoid the painful topic but found himself overwhelmed by emotion, praising the campmates for their compassionate response. McGuigan's daughter Danika 'Nika' McGuigan, who passed away on July 23, 2019, at 33, fought courageously against her second cancer battle, reports the Mirror.

The Dublin-based actress, known for her role as Danielle in the BBC Three series Can't Cope, Won't Cope, had previously defeated leukaemia after two years of treatment at the young age of 11.

McGuigan emotionally shared with his jungle campmates: "She had leukaemia, when I was making the movie The Boxer with Daniel Day Lewis, three weeks from the end I had to leave because she'd been diagnosed with leukaemia, they thought she wasn't going to get better but she fought back and she won it. She had two years of chemo, she was good, she came back."

As McGuigan became choked up, his campmates rallied around him, with McFly's Danny Jones and N-Dubz star Tulisa Contostavlos offering a comforting hug. "You're a man going through pain and you're vulnerable about it, that takes strength. There is no rules to grieving... it's a reflection of your love," Contostavlos consoled.

"Thank you, you're all so lovely, I really appreciate it," McGuigan replied, his voice filled with emotion. He went on to share the heartbreaking details of his late daughter's second battle with cancer.

"It was hard for weeks in the hospital, just watching, shocking," he said, fighting back tears. McGuigan proudly mentioned his daughter's accomplishments, including her starring role in the critically acclaimed film Wildfire, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020.

"(She) never got to see the opening of it," he said, his voice cracking. In a conversation with Loose Woman's Jane Moore, McGuigan revealed that his daughter had endured immense pain before her passing, saying "suffered so much pain and said 'mum I can't hold on'" "Stage 4 bowel cancer, five weeks, five weeks she died," he said, overcome with grief.

The family released a statement at the time, expressing their profound grief: "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 July 23, 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."