I’m a Celeb’s GK Barry on LGBTQ+ influence: ‘It’s just nice to be part of a community that accepts you’ (EXCLUSIVE)
"When I first came on [TikTok] and the podcast, I was open with the fact that I've been with girls, but I didn't really see it as a thing, says the leader of the Future (Under 25) category supported by Clifford Chance of Attitude 101, empowered by Bentley
By Dale Fox
GK Barry greets me on Zoom wrapped in a fluffy, oversized hoodie, her adorable toy poodle Noodle perched contentedly on her lap — a cosy scene that captures the down-to-earth charm that’s taken her from TikTok storyteller to multimedia star. When I introduce my two chihuahuas who just happen to be with me in the Attitude studio, her face lights up: “Oh my God — I am obsessed with these dogs!” Once the canine introductions are done, we both laugh, remembering there’s an interview to conduct.
“My childhood was really good,” the leader of the Future (Under 25) category supported by Clifford Chance of Attitude 101, empowered by Bentley shares about her younger self (see here for all the 10 influential figures who made our 2025 Attitude 101 The Future list). Referring to herself as “technically an only child”, due to much older siblings who’d moved out of home, the rising star reflects on her early years candidly. “School was a little bit rough, but it did make me funny, so swings and roundabouts there.” It’s this humour that would later propel her to fame, but the journey towards finding herself was more gradual. “I only really dated men at school,” she recalls. “I never really thought about it, to be fair.”
Like many creators who found their audience during lockdown, Barry’s path to success began almost by accident. “TikTok wasn’t really a job in the UK at all [back then],” she explains. “When I first started, I just thought, ‘Oh, this would be funny because everyone else is on it.'” As her storytelling videos began to rack up views, something clicked. “It was quite funny because we were all sort of like the testers of the app, like me and everyone else who came up around the same time.”
“‘I’m just going to do this full time and see what happens'”
The transition from barista to full-time content creator wasn’t immediate. Between gruelling days at Costa Coffee, Barry began to notice something surprising. “I was making more money doing a couple of ads on TikTok than I was [in] a month of doing 12-hour shifts,” she reveals. “When I left uni (with a 2:1 in filmmaking), I felt comfortable enough to be like, ‘I’m just going to do this full time and see what happens.'”
That leap of faith paid off. After finding her niche in storytelling and comedy, Barry launched her hit podcast Saving Grace, which regularly tops the charts and features candid conversations with celebrities. Her authentic approach to content creation has led to regular appearances as a guest panellist on Loose Women and a growing presence across British media. But perhaps her most significant impact has come from sharing her personal journey, including her relationship with Ipswich Town F.C. Women striker Ella Rutherford.
“I am a self-proclaimed WAG and I love it”
“I wasn’t meant to [go public]; she was meant to be private,” she admits with a laugh. “I was like, ‘I’m not telling anyone your name; no one’s ever going to know.’ But that lasted a week.” While mindful of Rutherford’s professional football career, Barry has fully embraced her role on the sidelines: “I love watching her play, her calves and all of that,” she grins. She’s even embraced her newfound status as the partner of a professional footballer with characteristic humour: “She got me an apron with WAG written on it. I am a self-proclaimed WAG and I love it.”
Despite Barry’s financial success — including being able to purchase her dream Porsche at 25 on a whim — she maintains a refreshing prudence. “I’ve always been very money conscious,” she admits. “All of this could disappear, and then I won’t be earning… There’s an ongoing joke between me and people at my podcast that I never spend my money because I’m so scared to spend it.”
“I was with everyone in the comments like, ‘She’s not even a celebrity'”
Her career reached new heights with an appearance on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! “I think that ‘I’ve made it’ moment for me was probably when I got offered I’m A Celebrity,” she reflects. “I was with everyone in the comments like, ‘She’s not even a celebrity’… I would not consider myself a celebrity, but to have got my career to a point where enough people know who I am, to even be considered by a producer to go on that show — for me that was like ‘OK, I feel like I’ve done a good job here.'”
It was in the jungle that she formed an unexpected but touching friendship with Rev Richard Coles, the former Communards pop star turned beloved broadcaster and Church of England priest. “If I’m at, say, a baby shower or whatever, I’m going to go to the older people,” she laughs when asked why she was drawn to him. “But with Rev he is, I’d say, the first older man who’s gay but also religious that I’ve met.” Their unlikely bond challenged her preconceptions about people. “He really taught me a lot about being open to everyone and anyone in any career, because I think I shut things down. I’m usually like, ‘Oh, I probably won’t be friends with that person.'”
“To me it was just like, ‘Oh, I like girls'”
Her own journey with sexuality has been refreshingly straightforward, thanks to a supportive family environment. “Luckily, I’ve grown up in a family where they’ve always said as long as they’re not an arse, we don’t care at all,” she says when explaining how her parents responded to her relationship with Ella. “So, it was never an issue for me, even when I was posting it [her relationship with Ella] online. I didn’t even think about how people could have a big reaction to this, because to me it was just like, ‘Oh, I like girls.'”
While Barry never set out to be an LGBTQ+ figurehead, the impact of her visibility has created ripples regardless. “When I first came on [TikTok] and the podcast, I was open with the fact that I’ve been with girls, but I didn’t really see it as a thing,” she explains. “When I got my newest girlfriend, it sort of became part of my identity a little bit.”
However, this natural approach has seemed to resonate deeply within the community and beyond. “I’ve had quite a few messages … like their mum listened to my podcasts and heard about how I came out to my parents, or someone watched I’m A Celeb and it’s made them have those conversations with their kids.” She reflects warmly on this unexpected influence: “I’m always happy to be supporting the community, but it was never my intention to be a leader. It’s been nice though because I feel like a lot of people relate to me a little bit more.”
“It’s just nice to be part of a community that accepts you”
Last year marked another milestone — her first Pride. “I went to Pride in London for the first time ever in the summer, and it was just so nice,” she recalls, her voice warming at the memory. “I’ve always thought, ‘I don’t know if I would be accepted here,’ but it is for everyone. It’s just nice to be part of a community that accepts you… They were just there to embrace it — and have a drink with you.”
Looking ahead, her ambitions continue to grow. “I would love to be doing more telly,” she muses. “I’d love to do documentary-type things, Stacey Dooley vibes. And I would love to one day have my own chat show, like Alan Carr: Chatty Man.”
In the meantime, Barry’s inclusion on Attitude’s 101 list has given her pause for thought. “To even have been put forward for that is insane,” she reflects. “It does make me realise the impact that I may have on other people — I never really see it as that.” She’s determined to use this platform wisely, though her signature humour is never far away: “I need to start influencing people a bit more. Come out to your parents, do whatever you need to do. And if worst comes to worst, just listen to my podcast.”
This feature is taken from issue 363 of Attitude magazine, available to order here or alongside 15 years of back issues on the Attitude app.