I’m A Celeb viewers praise ‘brave’ Barry McGuigan for inspiring men to talk about grief
Watch: Barry McGuigan opens up about daughter's death on I'm a Celebrity
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! viewers were left in tears after Barry McGuigan’s emotional chat in camp about his late daughter, Danika.
The former world champion boxer talked about his daughter’s battle with leukaemia and, later, bowel cancer on last night’s episode. Danika’s second diagnosis only gave her five weeks left to live, before she died in 2019 aged 33.
The 63 year old broke down into tears as he talked of his grief, and his campmates rushed to support him with hugs, as many of them shed tears too and reflected on their own grief.
Taking to X (formally Twitter), viewers praised Barry for his "strength" and "bravery" and called him an "inspiration" to men of all ages to be more open about their mental health.
"The chat about grief [clapping emojis] we honesty do not talk about it enough. Major props to Barry McGuigan for sharing and being so openly vulnerable. Tulisa’s right - it takes strength," one viewer wrote.
Another added: "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."
"Barry McGuigan being brave enough to just lay it all bare like that with people he’s essentially just met is genuinely inspiring," a third added. "Men need to take note from that. It’s ok not to be ok and grief/depression has no time limits or constraints. What a man."
"Big respect for Barry. Nobody should ever feel the need to apologise for crying," another man penned.
Others reflected on their own grief and reiterated that "it doesn’t get any easier" and that they felt "his pain" through their own loss.
"Barry McGuigan has got me in tears - after seeing what my dad went through before he died. I can’t never forget," one user wrote. "But as my dad said - the worst thing would be to bury your child. Massive respect for Gary speaking out about grief."
A second said: "I’m in bits watching Barry McGuigan talking about his daughter. Having lost my brother to bowel cancer, I felt all of his pain. Seriously f*** cancer."
As a third echoed: "No matter how much time passes, grief doesn’t leave you and it can just creep up and hit you like a tonne of bricks. It’s ok to let it out when it does, as Barry McGuigan has just shown."
It was a "heartbreaking" conversation that left fellow campmates Coleen Rooney, Oti Mabuse and Danny Jones in tears.
The conversation prompted Rooney to touch on the pain of losing her sister, Rosie, in 2013 at the age of 14. Rosie suffered from a rare brain disorder called Rett syndrome.
"I don’t usually get worked up, it takes a lot," she said, after listening to McGuigan's emoitonal talk, "Even when Rosie died, I kept it together for me mum and dad. When you’re away and in a different environments, it’s when you stop.
"She was 14 when she died, she’d be 26 now. It’s hard to lose a child, I’ve always said that… so we’re lucky to have what we’ve got."
If you or anyone you know is struggling with their grief, Sue Ryder offer bereavement support services online and in-person.
Read more about I'm A Celebrity:
I’m a Celebrity viewers want Barry McGuigan to win the show after ‘brave’ chat about grief (Independent, 2-min read)
What are the stages of grief? (Yahoo Life, 6-min read)
I'm a Celebrity fans in disbelief that Rebekah Vardy trademarked Wagatha Christie (Yahoo News UK, 3-min read)
