Ant McPartlin admits he was ‘moved to tears’ after Barry McGuigan broke down over daughter’s death
I’m A Celebrity host Ant McPartlin has revealed he was moved to tears whilst watching contestant Barry McGuigan’s emotional discussion about losing his daughter to cancer.
The 49-year-old presenter shared on ITV2’s Unpacked that watching McGuigan break down over his daughter Danika’s passing “really got to him”.
The former boxing champion’s daughter died in 2019 at age 33 following a brief battle with cancer, having previously overcome leukaemia as a child.
Speaking on Unpacked, McPartlin told hosts Joel Dommett, Kemi Rodgers and Sam Thompson that he had watched the emotional scenes before their broadcast.
“That really got me,” he said. “We watched it earlier in the day, before the show, and I was crying.”
“I can’t imagine 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,” McPartlin added.
During Monday night’s episode, McGuigan opened up about his daughter’s early health battles in camp.
“She had leukaemia, when I was making the boxing with Daniel Day Lewis,” he told campmates. “Three weeks from the end I had to leave because she’d been diagnosed with leukaemia.”
He continued: “They thought she wasn’t going to get better but she fought back and she won it. She had two years of chemo.”
As McGuigan began to cry, fellow contestants Danny Jones and Tulisa Contostavlos offered comfort and hugs.
Later in the episode, McGuigan shared the devastating details of his daughter’s final battle with cancer with campmate Jane Moore.
“She had pains in her tummy but she was making the movie, she put it off and went to the doctor, called us all in,” he revealed through tears.
“Stage 4 bowel cancer, five weeks, five weeks she died,” McGuigan said.
The boxer’s daughter Danika, known professionally as Nika, had worked as an actress, appearing in films including Philomena, Mammal and Wildlife before her death in July 2019.
Viewers took to social media to praise the emotional moment, with many describing it as one of the most moving in the show’s history.
“That was one of the most moving moments in the history of I’m a celeb. Such a likeable bunch – put them all in the final!!!” one viewer wrote on X, formally Twitter.
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Another posted: “Barry McGuigan is an inspiration to so many men, young and old, who may be struggling with their mental health and feel lost.
“If a hardened boxer can express his feelings, so can you.” (sic)