Coleen Rooney, Coronation Street star Alan Halsall and Strictly’s Oti Mabuse are in the jungle alongside the podcaster
I’m A Celebrity contestant GK Barry has fully thrown herself into jungle life and is already a big hit with fans of the ITV hit series. The 25-year-old TikTok and Podcast star is one of the original ten stars of the 2024 season of the long-running ITV reality show and was voted to undertake the first trial of the season following the premiere on Sunday night.
GK – whose real name is Grace Keeling – was told she had to face the Vile Volcano, which saw her go inside a deep volcano and through a series of caves and tunnels which she had to navigate in order to find hidden stars.
And despite show hosts subtly warning her about her language during the task, the Gen Z favourite secured nine stars and therefore nine meals for camp.
However, although her camp t-shirt is branded GK Barry, that is not in fact her real name and she uses a moniker for a surprising reason.
The influencer, who has half a million subscribers on YouTube for her podcast Saving Grace, is actually called Grace Eleanor Keeling. During an appearance on Kiss FM in the summer, Radio DJ Tatum McGreal asked GK, 25, about her alias, saying: “Is your surname actually Barry?” The star then responded: “No it’s my best mate’s name. I’m a fake Barry.”
GK, who also has 3.6 million TikTok followers then joked : “I know, all my f***king contracts are to Grace Barry and I thought if you guys ever try and sue me It’s not my name.”
GK Barry’s real name is in fact Grace Eleanor Keeling – and the K in her name represents her real surname. Many of her fans were gobsmacked to learn this news, taking to social media to comment on the video reports the Mirror. One wrote, “No way!!” while another mused, “Imagine if they stopped being friends.” A third chimed in, writing: “The real Barry,” added a third.
Before heading Down Under Grace, who is in a relationship with Ipswich Town footballer Ella Rutherford, revealed that she would miss her girlfriend a lot while away. She said: “When you are missing home and all you want is your comfort people, then that will be hard if they are not there. But my girlfriend is also very excited for me and thinks I will do really well. I have got her a cardboard cut out of me so it’s not when I am away.”
Ahead of her arrival in Australia on Monday, GK quipped that she was just “here to go to a retreat, just one with nature.” Asked if she had been camping before, she laughed: “No, god forbid.”
