GK Barry

Grace Eleanor Keeling was born on 12 August 1999 in Cambridge, England.^[1][2] When she was two her family moved to the British Virgin Islands, returning to the United Kingdom six years later.^[3]

GK studied film at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), obtaining a master's in digital marketing. Whilst at NTU, she worked with the BBC soap opera Doctors, created videos for ShawMind and Nottinghamshire Police, helped the Nottingham Women's Centre rebrand their business and assisted on the set of the Netflix film Hood.^[3]

Keeling came to attention on TikTok in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4] She chose the username @gkbarry due to initially not wanting her real name to become public and has explained that the username comes from her initials, GK, and the surname of her friend, Tatiana Barry.^[5] She admitted that in her final year of university, she prioritised TikTok over her work and felt that she could have achieved a better grade.^[6]

In late 2021, she appeared on the Fellas podcast, which led to Keeling starting her own podcast under The Fellas Studios, Saving Grace, in April 2022,^[5][7] which is also uploaded as a vodcast to YouTube.^[8] In November 2022, Keeling participated in Footasylum's "Locked In" online reality series in which she finished as the second runner-up.^[9] In February 2023, Keeling toured the UK as part of her Saving Grace podcast.^[10] Later that month, she also appeared in an episode of Love Island: Aftersun to discuss the ninth series with presenter Maya Jama.^[2] She also fronted an advertisement campaign for KFC in July 2023.^[11] Keeling has also appeared on the ITV2 game show CelebAbility in July 2023, as well as appearing as a contestant in episodes of The Wheel and The Weakest Link on BBC One.^[2] In September 2023, Keeling was announced as one of the celebrities participating in Don't Look Down for Stand Up to Cancer, which aired on Channel 4 in October 2023.^[12] In October 2023, Keeling appeared as a guest panellist on the Big Brother companion show, Big Brother: Late & Live, to discuss the twentieth series with presenters Will Best and AJ Odudu.^[13]

From February to March 2024, Keeling completed a sold-out UK tour for a second time as part of the Saving Grace podcast.^[14] Guests for the second tour included Charity Shop Sue, Gemma Collins, Hannah Elizabeth, Chloe Ferry, Chris Hughes, Katie Price, Louie Spence, and Scott van-der-Sluis.^[15] The same year, she confirmed she was in a relationship with Portsmouth footballer Ella Rutherford.^[16] Since August 2024, Keeling has appeared as a regular panellist on the ITV daytime talk show Loose Women,^[17] making her the youngest panellist ever on the show at the age of 25.^[18] In October 2024, she received backlash for interviewing prolific and controversial pornographic actress Bonnie Blue on the Saving Grace podcast.^[19] In November 2024, Keeling was a contestant in the twenty-fourth series of the survival reality television show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and was the eighth contestant to be eliminated, finishing in fifth place.^[20][21] Keeling grew close to Rev. Richard Coles during the show, a relationship that fans referred to as a "bromance",^[22] and he later appeared as a guest in an episode of Saving Grace.^[23] Over a week after leaving I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, Keeling took over Wembley Arena for her Saving Grace: XXX-Mas Special on 15 December 2024.^[24]

In January 2025, Keeling appeared as a guest panellist on the Channel 4 comedy talk show, The Last Leg.^[25] In May, she was revealed to be a judge on Jimmy Carr's new comedy show Am I The A**hole? airing on Comedy Central later that year,^[26] as well as being a host on BBC Radio 1 on the weekend afternoon show in July of the same year.^[27] She also made her acting debut, with a cameo as Vanessa in the Netflix original series Missing You.^[28] In September 2025, Keeling toured the UK for a third time, as part of the Saving Grace: Jungle Fever Tour.^[29][30] Guests for the third tour included Elektra Fence, Tulisa, Denise Welch, and Louise Pentland.^[31] Keeling returned to The Last Leg for another episode in November 2025.^[32] Later that month, Keeling received backlash when presenting the Women's Champions League Cup quarter-final and semi-final draw with her girlfriend Ella Rutherford,^[33] primarily for making "crude comments" and for not taking the event seriously.^[34] She also reportedly dropped one of the balls, picked it back up and reintroduced it as part of the draw.^[35] She later made a cameo appearance in Olivia and Alex: Parenthood, following the lives of former Love Island series 2 stars, Alex and Olivia Bowen, and their transition into parenthood.^[36] In March 2026, it was announced that Keeling would be taking place in Soccer Aid 2026.^[37]