Celebrity Traitors' Cat Burns: How the neurodivergent singer became a viral hit
We take a look at the TikTok singing sensation as she heads to the Scottish Highlands
Celebrity Traitors star Cat Burns is among the star-studded line-up for the hotly-anticipated show – but who is she?
Cat is one of the 19 famous faces taking part in the BBC spin-off and will be trying her best to bag £100,000 for charity.
The singer’s fellow stars are showbiz heavyweights, including Jonathan Ross, Celia Imrie and Alan Carr, so how will she fare in the game? Here’s everything you need to know about Cat Burns, including her age, real name and what she’s best known for.
Celebrity Traitors: Who is Cat Burns and how old is she?
Cat Burns, who was born on June 6 2000, is a 25-year-old singer. Her real name is Catrina Burns-Temison and she grew up in Streatham, London.
Cat’s mother is of Jamaican descent. Her father is Nigerian. Cat’s parents divorced when she was a child, and she loved with her mum and her sister. Cat admits she suffered emotional anxiety as a youngster due to her parents’ break-up.
How did Cat Burns become famous?
Cat released debut EP titled Adolescent aged just 16 while studying at BRIT School in London. She made the songs in a garden shed and self-released on October 1, 2016. Cat chased a record deal dream before releasing a second EP, titled Naïve, in May 2019.
She began to go viral on TikTok after the release of Go in 2020, with thousands of people recording reactions and memes to her tune. When Go reached number 2 in the singles charts, she was beaten to the top spot by Harry Styles’ As It Was.
After making a name for herself during lockdown, she supported some major names in music on tour. Cat supported Years and Years frontman Olly Alexander on the UK leg of his Night Call Tour in 2022 and even supported Ed Sheeran on his Mathematics Tour. Cat has since been nominated for three BRIT Awards.
Does Cat Burns have ADHD?
Cat is neurodivergent and has been open and honest with her social media followers about the subject. She’s previously mentioned that her ADHD helps her to create music.
She admitted online: “Both the chords and words come at the same time, but the concept comes first and I’ve found that that system has always worked for me! Helps the process of writing the song become a lot quicker which is great for my ADHD brain.”
In April 2023, Cat revealed that she also has autism. “I knew I had ADHD but I still felt there was a difference in my brain that I wanted to understand and explore,” she told BBC Newsbeat. “So once I got my autism diagnosis that helped me understand myself and just how much I’ve had to do in order to get to where I am.”
At the time, she also Tweeted: “I’ve just been diagnosed with ASD ( autism spectrum disorder) and my whole life just makes sense. happy #AutismAcceptanceMonth”
What is Cat Burns’ sexuality?
Cat describes herself as a “woman loving women” and goes by she/her pronouns. She detailed coming out to her family in an interview with Attitude magazine in 2022. Cat told the publication: “Coming in my mum’s room, showing her different videos of people coming out, seeing what her response was. ‘That’s so cute!’ Then, like, ‘Why do you keep showing me these? Have you got something to tell me?’
“I was like, ‘I don’t think I’m straight.’ She was like, ‘OK’. A couple of weeks later, [she] asked me a million questions. Then that was it. As easy as that.”
Are Cat Burns and Jodie Rockett still together?
Cat has reportedly been dating girlfriend Jodie Rockett since 2021. She even penned a song about her, called Jodie.
Lyrics to the song include: “Oh I will put your mind at ease. When the nights go cold, your heart’s safe with me. Cat’s mum featured in her backing choir when she recored the song last year.
But Cat has previously suffered heartbreak. Without naming names, Cat told Jamie Laing on his Great Company podcast: “Woman loving women break-ups are hell on earth. I thought I was going to die. I actually thought I was going to die. I woke up and I was like, ‘I’m in hell. This is awful’.”
Is Cat going on tour?
Cat’s appearance on The Celebrity Traitors will give her profile a huge boost. She currently has several shows booked with tickets still available at the end of November.
Cat is set to perform at O2 Academy Glasgow, O2 Apollo Manchester, O2 City Hall Newcastle, O2 Academy Bournemouth, O2 Academy Bristol, and the O2 Academy Brixton from Wednesday November 19 until Sunday November 30, 2025.
Tickets are still available on the Ticketmaster website at the time of publication, but with a stint in Celebrity Traitors, it’s expected her upcoming performances could sell out. Cat’s own website doesn’t list any more performances after November.
Cat Burns on The Celebrity Traitors
Cat joins this year’s Celebrity Traitors line-up alongside the likes of QI star Stephen Fry and Olympic diver Tom Daley. It is Cat’s first punt at reality TV and she’s already come up with a strategy.
If she was a Traitor, Cat said: “My strategy would be to just try and go under the radar, not draw too much attention to myself, but also give out names of people who I think could be Traitors. I think you run a risk if you don’t say anybody’s name at all of arousing suspicion.”
Cat’s covered all bases, sharing what she’d do if she was Faithful, too. “I think I will just try and observe without looking weird, because I’m a massive observer. I’d need to figure out a way to stare at people when they don’t know that I’m staring at them.”
On why she decided to join the line-up, Cat added: “It’s just one of those opportunities and situations that just never really happens, a once in a lifetime offer really.”
With Cat never taking part in a TV show before, she hopes the Traitors will allow viewers to “get to know me a bit more”. “I laugh before I cry. I think people will see that side to me; the lighter side that doesn’t take things too seriously and is here for fun,” she added.
When is The Celebrity Traitors on?
The Celebrity Traitors kicks off on Wednesday, October 8. Airing from 9pm, the series starts with a bumper episode lasting 70 minutes. It will continue the following evening at the same time, but lasting an hour.
The Celebrity Traitors will continue to air twice a week, on both Wednesday and Thursday evenings, on the BBC.
