Campfire Conversations: opening up and sharing grief

The 2024 camp mates have been some of the most open in the show’s history. During the past three weeks, viewers witnessed conversations about death, grief and the importance of sharing your feelings.

We have compiled some of the conversations from this year’s ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’ which we found most impactful:

Barry McGuigan speaking about his daughter

Former boxing champion Barry McGuigan shared his grief when talking about his daughter, actress Danika “Nika” McGuigan who died in 2019 at the age of 33.

After becoming emotional when speaking about his daughter’s cancer treatment, he was comforted and encouraged to share his feelings by his fellow camp mates.

“You’re a man going through pain and you’re vulnerable about it, that takes strength. There is no rules to grieving… It’s a reflection of your love, the extent that you’re holding onto a memory. That doesn’t mean that you’re weak, it means ‘this is how much I love my daughter’ and I’m grieving.”  Tulisa

“You don’t have to get over it in a certain amount of time, it can be like this in 10 years and you can still feel that” Alan Halsall

“I don’t think you ever get over things like that. I don’t think you ever get over losing someone. You always find a way to just push it to the back… for a big, strong guy I also admire that he’s brave enough to let it go” Oti Mabuse

“I’ve tried to talk about it… no matter what I do, it just all comes back.” Barry McGuigan

Oti and Danny discuss the importance of men sharing their emotions

McFly band member Danny Jones had an emotional conversation about his mental health, explaining how he’s been in therapy for anxiety since he was 19 and has experienced panic attacks.

“I want to be able to talk about it. Every time I talk about it, it’s so much easier…that’s why I found it so important to go and speak to somebody, to a professional. Just to help me kind of like cope with it in life and find that joy and filter through all the craziness that’s been going on, or the trauma or whatever you’ve been through”– Danny Jones

Professional dancer Oti Mabuse praised Danny for his openness: “I think it’s really good that you’re saying people must talk, especially young boys, because I don’t think young boys really talk that much and the suicide rate is so high in young men especially.”

Oti then shared with the group that her brother took his own life when he was 16 years old: “I think if he had spoken to someone about what he was feeling, it would have been a different turnout.”

When talking about her grief, Oti said “every year we celebrate his birthday. It’s the people that are still left with the aftermath that feel it every single day, and you have to go out into the world and be strong, happy, bubbly and positive but it’s tough”.

Reverend Richard Coles speaks about the death of his partner

After his partner died in 2019, Reverend Richard Coles has been open about his experience of grief, including publishing a book in 2021 ‘The Madness of Grief: A Memoir of Love and Loss’.

In conversation with Oti Mabuse, Richard shared how he was feeling now it’s five years since his partner, David, died.

“I miss him. And I want him to walk in the door…It’s just a massive hole in my life, and I’m living my life around that loss. I’ve met Dickie now, and that’s great and we’re building a relationship together, but I just miss David very much…

“I’m a vicar, I deal with it all the time. I know what bereavement looks like, I know what you do. But when it happens to you, it’s just like a bomb going off.”

Coleen Rooney shares her experience of baby loss

Whilst speaking with fellow campmates Oti Mabuse and GK Barry about having four boys, Coleen Rooney shared that she’d had two miscarriages.

Coleen shared that she had her first miscarriage before she had any children, and the second coming before she had her youngest two children.

“When I had the first one I was really scared… but then once I had a child, it took that away, I went on to have another one. It’s not a nice feeling for anyone, it’s horrible but knowing that I could conceive and have the child, that made me feel better.”

Coleen also shared the impact it had on her husband, Wayne Rooney, she said: “I feel for the men in this situation… Wayne really felt it the first time round and it wasn’t until later on that I thought, ‘Do you know what, everyone’s fussing around me, but not him and he had to just get up and go to work as normal.’ It’s quite hard.”

At Cruse Bereavement Support, we’re incredibly grateful that conversations around grief and bereavement have been given such a big platform. Our vision is that we live in a world where everyone grieving is supported, respected and understood. The more open conversations we all have around grief, the closer we get to this.

If you need support or someone to talk to, we’re here to help you.