On Monday night’s episode of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Barry McGuigan was in tears as he opened up about the loss of his daughter Danika McGuigan.
Danika, who was an actress, died in 2019 at the age of 33, five weeks after being diagnosed with bowel cancer.
Viewers watching the ITV programme expressed their heartbreak for Barry, 63, praising the former professional boxer for being so open about his grief and the other celebrities in camp for supporting him.
Prior to her death, Danika starred in multiple films and TV shows, receiving a posthumous lead actress award for her final performance in the Irish thriller Wildfire.
She was previously diagnosed with leukaemia when she was 11 years old, recovering from the illness after two years of chemotherapy.
Who was Barry McGuigan’s daughter Danika?
Danika, also known as Nika, was born in Northern Ireland on January 4, 1986, the daughter of Barry and his wife Sandra.
The actress, who starred in films including Philomena, Wildfire and Mammal, had three brothers, including boxing trainer Shane McGuigan.
She attended the Gaiety School of Acting and Bow Street Academy in Dublin (formerly known as The Factory).
Danika’s earliest role was in a 2000 film called Malicious Intent, before going on to appear in shows including The Tudors, Hollyoaks: The Morning After the Night Before and DAni’s House.
In 2013, she played Bridie in Philomena, an Oscar-nominated film which also starred Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan.
Danika’s final film role was as a lead in the 2020 thriller Wildfire, for which she was posthumously awarded the lead actress accolade at the Irish Film & Television Academy Film & Drama Awards.
Cathay Brady, who directed the film, said that it was ‘written for Nika’, stating, according to The Irish Times: ‘I workshopped it with her and her co-star, Nora-Jane Noone, and we spent five years crafting it.
‘As an actress, Nika had a remarkable alchemy of strength and courage with the ability to be vulnerable and to be seen to be vulnerable.’
When was Danika diagnosed with cancer?
When she was 11 years old, Danika was diagnosed with leukaemia and she underwent two years of chemotherapy at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London before recovering.
Speaking in the jungle on I’m A Celebrity, Barry opened up about what it was like when his daughter was diagnosed with cancer as a child, while he was making the 1997 sports drama The Boxer.
‘She had leukaemia, when I was making The Boxer with Daniel Day Lewis, three weeks from the end I had to leave because she’d been diagnosed with leukaemia,’ he said.
‘They thought she wasn’t going to get better, but she fought back and she won it. She had two years of chemo but she was good.’
In 2011, Barry spoke about the impact of the charity CLIC Sargent, also known as Young Lives vs Cancer, after he was announced as a patron.
‘I know first-hand about the vital support CLIC Sargent provides for families affected by childhood cancer, because it helped our family when my daughter Danika was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of 11,’ he said at the time.
In 2019, Danika died at the age of 33, five weeks after being diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer.
What are the symptoms of bowel cancer?
The NHS states that symptoms of bowel cancer can include:
- Changes in your poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you
- Needing to poo more or less often than usual for you
blood in your poo, which may look red or black
bleeding from your bottom - Often feeling like you need to poo, even if you’ve just been to the toilet
- Tummy pain
- A lump in your tummy
- Bloating
- Losing weight without trying
- Feeling very tired for no reason
For more information, click here.
Barry told the other stars on I’m A Celebrity that his daughter had gone to see a doctor after experiencing ‘pains in her tummy’ while she was making a movie.
‘She put it off and went to the doctor, called us all in. Stage 4 bowel cancer, five weeks, five weeks she died,’ he said.
What has Barry McGuigan said about his daughter’s death?
Following Danika’s death five years ago, a statement was released by her family, which 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.
‘After a brief but brave battle against cancer, Nika passed away peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday 23rd July, 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. The McGuigan family.’
In 2021, Barry appeared on The Late Late Show in Ireland, where he spoke about his daughter and his grief over his death.
‘I know there are loads of parents who have lost their children and I know how devastating that is, how hard it is,’ he told the host Ryan Tubridy over video call.
‘My heart goes out to all of them. They’ll know, they’ll understand just the pain of every day it’s the same.;
Barry emphasised how ‘important’ Danika was in their lives, and how much she loved his grandchildren, saying that she was ‘such a family person’.
In 2005, the former professional boxer told The Sunday Times that finding out that Danika had been diagnosed with leukaemia as a child was ‘like being hit with a sledgehammer’.
He also told the publication: ‘She found a love of drama and is now at acting school in Dublin.
‘The word “dynamo” doesn’t do her justice. With Danika the glass is never half-empty and never half-full. It’s completely full. In fact, it’s probably spilling over.’
In the same interview, Danika spoke about how much of an ‘inspiration’ her dad was to her.
‘What I admire about Dad is his determination. If he decides he’s going to do something, he does it,’ she told the newspaper.
She continued: ‘When I got leukaemia I found myself applying that same mental approach. It was something we all applied in our family, because I’m sure the news of my leukaemia hit them hard.
‘Until my diagnosis, cancer has been this huge bad thing in our family, because my dad’s father and my mum’s father died of it. They were both quite young. But I got the all-clear in 1999. I know how lucky I am and I know there’s been one figure who, throughout, has been a huge inspiration to me. That’s my dad.’
Following the episode of I’m A Celebrity where Barry opened up to the other campmates about his loss, his son Shane commented on the clip on Instagram: ‘Thank you to all the other camp mates comforting Dad. We appreciate it immensely 💔💔.’
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! returns tonight at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
Macmillan cancer support
If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with cancer, Macmillan can offer support and information.
You can contact their helpline on 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week from 8am to 8pm), use their webchat service, or visit their site for more information.
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