During an emotional segment on Good Morning Britain, former boxing champion Barry McGuigan shared his profound grief over the loss of his daughter.
The ITV morning show returned on Friday, December 6 with Kate Garraway and Robert Rinder presenting. They welcomed Barry, who recently left the I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! camp alongside Maura Higgins.
Reflecting on his time since exiting the Australian jungle on Thursday, Robert addressed Barry's candid discussion about his daughter's passing on the programme. Robert asked: "A lot of people were really touched on the power of your grief, how challenging was that and should we talk about it?"
Barry responded: "It was the single most devastating thing that's happened to me, losing my daughter five years ago was dreadful. I've never recovered from it- me and my wife," reports the Mirror.
He continued: "Her life was so sad, it all happened at the most important time of her life when things were looking great and she got cancer and she died. Me and my wife have never really recovered from it and I don't think we ever will, just time teaches us how to deal with it."
Overcome with emotion on the show, Barry apologised to the hosts, to which Kate compassionately reassured him that it was completely fine.
She explained: "No I didn't want to interrupt you, I thought you had stopped because I thought there was a delay. We can see the emotion pouring out of you. We saw it when you were in there as well and everybody just wanted to hug you then and hug you now."
Barry also shared that speaking about his daughter Danika on I'm A Celebrity was healing for him, despite previous criticisms he received for being open about his grief, with some callously advising him to "get over it".
As viewers witnessed his poignant story on television, they flocked to social media to express their sentiments. One touched fan commented: "What a man... You can see the pain of losing his daughter still lingers. How could anyone be so heartless to tell him to 'get over it?'"
Another sympathised, writing: "Aww poor Barry." While a third remarked: "This is heartbreaking to watch."
Former Irish boxing legend Barry endured the tragic loss of his only daughter, Danika, to cancer in 2019. Danika bravely fought bowel cancer for a short time after her diagnosis in 2019, passing away five weeks later at the age of just 33.
Good Morning Britain is on ITV1 weekdays at 6am and on ITVX
English (United States) ·