Barry McGuigan has paid tribute to his late daughter Danika on what would have been her 39th birthday.
The former boxing champion’s daughter Danika ‘Nika’ McGuigan died in 2019 at the age of 33 – just five weeks after being diagnosed with bowel cancer.
The Dublin-based actress, who played Danielle in BBC Three comedy Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope, originally overcame leukaemia after two years of treatment when she was diagnosed at the age of 11.
Taking to social media on Saturday, Barry wished Nika a ‘happy heavenly birthday’ as he shared a photo of her.
Happy Heavenly Birthday to our beloved Nika RIP who would have been 39 today.
We live in hope that we will be together again 💔🙏 pic.twitter.com/25IJLCgGNB— Barry McGuigan (@ClonesCyclone) January 4, 2025
The 63-year-old wrote: “Happy Heavenly Birthday to our beloved Nika RIP who would have been 39 today. We live in hope that we will be together again.”
He received lots of support from his followers in the comments section, including one message that read: “Sorry for your loss of your daughter. I can’t even imagine what your family have been through and how you get up each morning to carry out your day, despite it happening a few years ago. Bless you and your daughter. Hope your 2025 is full of love and laughs and good memories”.
Olympian Sharron Davis wrote: “What a beautiful young woman she was Barry. Always with you in your hearts.”
And another person added: “What a beautiful and heartfelt tribute to Nika on her heavenly birthday. It’s clear how much love you hold for her, and keeping her memory alive in this way is a testament to that bond. May you find comfort in your hope and the cherished memories you shared.”
Barry previously said that Nika’s death was “the single most devastating thing that’s ever happened to me”.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain after his exit from I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here last month, he admitted: “Losing my daughter five years ago was dreadful, and I never recovered from it, me and my wife, but I’m getting better as time goes on.
“I used not to be able to talk about it at all, but I know it’s important that I do chat about it, and I know she’s there somewhere.
“And it’s just her life was so sad, and it all happened at a most important time in her life when things were looking great and she got cancer and she died.
“Sandy and I, my wife, have never really recovered from it. I don’t think we ever will, but time teaches us how to deal with it.”
The Clones man said he found himself openly sharing his experiences of grief in the jungle as all the contestants could do between trials was talk, but he still finds it difficult to open up about his loss.
“I find I choke up every time I talk about it, and people say get over it, but when you love somebody as much as I loved her, it’s almost impossible,” he said.
“So I try my best, and I know in time it will get better, but her passing and how terribly sad it was and how terribly painful it was, it’s just hard to cope with.”