Father of I’m A Celebrity star Maura Higgins heartbroken after she cut him off following a ‘horrendous’ phone call that left her unable to breathe

The father of I’m A Celebrity star Maura Higgins has been left heartbroken and bewildered after she cut off contact with him following a ‘horrendous’ phone call that left her unable to breathe.

Lorry driver Seamus Higgins is at a loss to explain why his model daughter has shut him out of her life for the last few years and cannot even recall the conversation which sparked the rift, a family source told MailOnline.

Maura, 33, revealed on a recent podcast that her relationship with her father became strained when he split with her mother, Sharon, and soured further after she appeared on Love Island in 2019.

However, a source close to Maura’s dad said: ‘Poor Seamus hasn’t taken it all well, he’s really upset and confused by what Maura’s been saying.

‘He just doesn’t understand where it’s come from, she will always be his daughter of course but he doesn’t know what she is talking about and it’s hit him really hard.

‘At the end of the day he is a family man and he loves his son and daughters and if Maura has a problem then he would like to sort it out but he just can’t fathom where all this has come from.

‘They haven’t spoken for a while but he’s busy trucking and she’s busy in London so that’s understandable but he just doesn’t know where all this animosity has come from.’

Maura grew up in Ballymahon, a small town in County Longford in Ireland. She has a brother and two sisters; Becki and Louise.

The source added: ‘None of us really know the reason for the feud and even if Seamus knew I doubt he’d tell anyone.

‘He’s a very private man and he is away with work a lot of the time, so we don’t get to see him much.

‘It’s not unusual for him to be gone eight or nine days in a row because he drives long-distances all over Europe.

‘But he does find it hard not speaking with his daughter, as anyone in his situation would. I really hope he and Maura reunite soon.’

Former ring girl Maura – one of 12 celebrities heading to the Australian jungle for this year’s I’m a Celebrity – was interviewed by Married At First Sight’s relationship guru, Paul C Brunson, on his podcast We Need To Talk.

During the two-hour discussion, released a fortnight ago, she revealed how the bust-up with her 56-year-old father left her emotionally scarred.

She said: ‘It’s kind of weird. We haven’t spoken in a few years now.

‘My dad spoke to me not very nice. I’m not saying it was just a bit of an argument. It was horrendous where I physically couldn’t breathe after the phone call.

‘I thought to myself, ‘I wouldn’t let a partner talk to me like that. I wouldn’t let a friend talk to me like that. I’m not going to let my dad talk to me like that’.

‘But also, I think if I dig deep, I don’t think I’ve ever forgiven my dad for not being there for me when my best friend passed away. And he wasn’t there for me.’

Her close friend Andrew Rowan died aged just 26 when his motorbike was involved in a crash with three cars in County Athlone, Ireland in 2017.

Maura continued: ‘I know my father struggled in the divorce too but he just did things that just was not…’

Finishing her sentence, Paul added: ‘Not what a father should do.’

The falling out with her father came at a

‘very hard time’ in her life, she told

the podcast, as she struggled to adapt to her new celebrity life in London.

Breaking into tears, she said: ‘It was like someone just picked me up, dropped me to the UK and I was in the public eye. I had nowhere to live. I had no friends, no family, nobody I could trust.

‘I’ve done everything by myself. I’ve been independent my whole life. But that was a lot. That was scary. Very, very scary.’

She added: ‘I had a breakdown. I had dark thoughts, very dark thoughts. And it got to a stage where I don’t even think I told my mam. I tell my mum everything. I didn’t tell her how bad it was.

‘I didn’t want to be here anymore. I thought that was going to be the best thing.

‘Moving country while being thrown into the public eye is terrifying. I felt so mentally exhausted from just putting on the smile. There were so many things I did that I don’t even remember. I was miserable,’

Seamus is understood to have been away working this week- picking up a delivery in Belfast – and so was unavailable for comment when MailOnline called round to the family home on the outskirts of Ballymahon.

His second wife, Frances, spoke briefly over the intercom to say she and her husband did not want to talk about Maura or I’m A Celebrity.

But the snub from his daughter is all the more puzzling given Seamus’s tender words for his daughter when he spoke movingly after her stint on Love Island five years ago, in which she finished fourth.

Maura and her love interest on the show, Curtis Pritchard, enjoyed a jubilant homecoming in Ballymahon after leaving the Majorca villa.

Seamus told Irish newspaper Sunday World

how he shared a few pints with Curtis in the local pub and ‘found him to be a genuine bloke’

He said he wasn’t embarrassed by his daughter’s antics on the show adding:

‘Maybe it’s because I’m a modern dad. The only time that bothered me was when I could see Maura getting a bit upset or annoyed.

‘I’m still very emotional thinking about it all. We went to meet them all at the airport the other day.

‘Everyone else is looking at Maura as this star but she’s still my little girl and always will be.’

Seamus had previously been interviewed by Virgin Media News in front of his lorry before the Love Island final.

He how he was looking forward to seeing his daughter again, adding: ‘I can’t wait to put my arms around her and give her a hug.’

His Facebook page still has cherished family album snaps showing him and Maura posing happily

Following her Reality TV debut on Love Island, Maura has since appeared on Dancing on Ice and hosted segments on This Morning.

She will join pop-star-turned-vicar, Reverend Richard Coles, as one of the I’m A Celebrity latecomers with the pair joining campmates Down Under in a week’s time

Maura is currently savouring her last moments of luxury before heading into the searing heat of the jungle, where she will sleep on a hammock and be fed a diet of rice and beans.

She enjoyed a final date night with her new flame, TOWIE star Pete Wicks, 36, earlier this week at the London Palladium.

The couple have been together since August.

Maura – who has also dated Strictly’s Giovanni Pernice, footballer Connor Wickham and actor Bobby Holland Hanton – booked into top Covent Garden hotel Middle Eight on Wednesday night ahead of her 21-hour flight to Australia.

Among those watching her quest to be crowned Queen of the Jungle will be friends and family back home in Ballymahon.

She went to the Forgney National School and then Ballymahon Vocational School before training to be a hairdresser and working in two local salons; Occasions Hair Studio and Halo Hair Design.

Owner and manager of Halo, Margo Kilkenny, who trained Maura, said: ‘We’ll all be rooting for her, that’s for sure.

‘She worked with me for three years between 2015 and 2018 as a qualified stylist.

‘Maura was very, very good with the older ladies. There was a lady called Lilly who would pop in every Saturday to get her hair blow dried and Maura would always take her shopping afterwards and walk her home.

‘She eventually left to concentrate on her modelling and promotional work. She was a ring girl at the boxing and a track girl at the motorbike racing.

‘I still keep in contact with her. I’ll drop

her a message now and again but she’s so busy now, I’ve not heard from her in more than a year.

‘But Maura’s such a great character. What you see is what you get. She is really good at drawing you in when she tells stories.

‘She is very genuine and very true to herself and always so glam – it’ll be interesting to see how she copes roughing it in the jungle.’