I’m a Celebrity’s Barry McGuigan broke down over the loss of his daughter Danika, who posthumously won a major film award for her final role
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Barry McGuigan had the nation holding back tears on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! last night, after he emotionally opened up about the death of his daughter, Danika McGuigan, at the age of just 33.
Danika – lovingly referred to as Nika by her dad – passed away in 2019 just weeks after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. Seeing Barry burst into tears while talking about his lost daughter resulted in plenty of tears from the other jungle campers, while even host Ant McPartlin revealed that he cried while watching the scene.
Nika was diagnosed with leukaemia when she was just 11, but recovered after being pulled out of her private school for two years and being treated at St. Bartholomew’s hospital in London.
The actress seemed to always have her eyes set on being a movie star, with her first small role as “Barmaid” airing in the year 2000 when she was just a teen. She then went on to get professional training, moving to London from Dublin in 2013 to chase her dreams.
Just before her death, Nika worked on her biggest movie. She and fellow Irish actress Nora-Jane Noone played the two starring roles, of reunited sisters discovering unwelcome truths about their mother. The thriller proved to be a success after it premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2020, but Nika was never able to know of its success.
Nika passed away just a few months before the movie premiered, so missed it being awarded the IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award at the BFI London Film Festival. Nika herself was particularly successful for her part in the movie, and was posthumously honoured with the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Heartbreakingly, Barry previously divulged that after Nika’s recovery from Leukaemia as a child, she didn’t believe she’d fall ill again, and was instead fully focused on her future as an actress.
Speaking to the Sunday Times back in 2005, Barry divulged that Danika “said she wouldn’t get sick again. She just got on with her life.” He added: “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.”
Considering Danika’s bright future, Barry admitted during his intimate admission with his I’m a Celeb co-stars that the loss of his daughter has changed him in certain ways. “I used to go to church a lot but after my daughter… you know, not so much,” he admitted to BBC Radio 1 star Dean McCullough.
Alongside Danika, Barry and his wife Sandra share three sons: Shane, Jake, and Blain. Shane acknowledged Barry’s emotional I’m a Celeb moment and took a moment to thank the supportive cast on Instagram, writing: “Thank you to all the other campmates supporting dad. We appreciate it immensely.”
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