I'm A Celebrity's Barry McGuigan suffered stroke before daughter's tragic death

All eyes will be on Barry McGuigan in tonight's episode of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! as the former world champion boxer tackles one of the show's infamous trials single-handedly.

The 63-year-old has proved a hit with viewers since entering the jungle alongside the likes of McFly singer Danny Jones, Strictly star Oti Mabuse and TV personality Coleen Rooney, and is now one step closer to being crowned its King after Loose Woman panellist Jane Moore became the first celebrity to be voted off the show on Friday.

Tonight's episode will see him tackle a devious trial named Spiralling Out of Control, in which he will be strapped to a huge spinning table while covered in insects as he tries to win stars for camp.

A former world champion boxer, McGuigan has faced his fair share of challenges before entering the jungle. Inside the ring, he also won the British and European featherweight titles, while he is also a former winner of BBC Sports Personality of the Year and a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

But he has also faced several challenges in his personal life since retiring in 1989 - the most devastating being the death of his daughter Danika five years ago.

The 33-year-old passed away in July 2019, just one month after being diagnosed with cancer. She was the only daughter of McGuigan and his wife of over 40 years, Sandra, who also share three sons together.

Danika had been diagnosed with acute lymphoid leukaemia when she was just 11 years old, undergoing two years of treatment. However, she recovered from her illness and went on to become an actress, even starring in Jim Sheridan’s The Secret Scripture alongside Hollywood stars Rooney Mara and Jack Reynor.

But the disease returned two decades later and Danika's life was tragically cut short, leaving her family devastated. In a statement at the time, they wrote: "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 23 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.”

McGuigan - who opened up about the tragedy soon after arriving in the I'm A Celebrity camp - has since admitted that he will "never come to terms" with his daughter's death, telling BelfastLive in 2021: "It’s been shocking. I'll never recover from it. My life will go on but I’ll never be the same because family means everything to me.

"She was such a great kid. She had a tough life all her life. She had fever convulsions at nine months; she was dead on arrival at the hospital and they got her heart going again; she had leukaemia at 11, they said she would never get through it and she got through it.

"I get very upset about it. I try my best not to," he added. "I think, ‘I don’t want to cry again.’ But, yeah, tough. Very tough. If this had happened to me during my career, I could never have continued with that. I don’t know if I could have recovered from that as a fighter."

More recently, McGuigan has also faced financial, legal and health troubles, with two companies linked to him being liquidated earlier this year. The boxer, as well as his wife and three sons, ran promotional company Cyclone Promotions Ltd, while the couple and their son Shane, a boxing trainer, ran McGuigans Gym Ltd - but both went into liquidation in January.

That came after the former Irish fighter was involved in a multi-million pound legal battle with world champion boxer Carl Frampton -who he previously managed - back in 2020. While they used to be close, McGuigan and Frampton's relationship ultimately broke down, with the latter suing his former manager for alleged withheld earnings from big fights.

Frampton claimed up to £6m against Cyclone Promotions, but McGuigan filed a counter suit claiming his fighter had breached his contract by quitting the organisation in 2017. Both men denied any wrongdoing, with the case heard at the High Court in Belfast before a settlement was reached outside of court.

During the trial, however, the court heard how the relationship between the two men had turned toxic, while it was revealed that McGuigan had suffered a stroke during the early days of managing Frampton, The Belfast Telegraph reported at the time.

"It was quite toxic," Paul Johnston, a manager at a boxing club where Frampton had trained, told the court. "The camp wasn't happy. There was an air of grievance or unhappiness with Carl. He wasn't a happy fighter."

"Shane started talking negatively. He said that he was finished," Mr Johnston added. "I was very concerned. This came from Carl's trainer and someone who was going to be in his corner the following night."

However, Mr Johnston's version of events were denied by McGuigan's barrister, who said Shane "has no memory of saying that to you and it wasn't his view either".