Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off: GK Barry's real name, how she found fame and who her footballer girlfriend is
GK is hoping to impress John Torode and Grace DentCelebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off will be bringing us some festive cheer tonight – and GK Barry is one of the contestants taking part.
GK is competing on the show with Love Island’s narrator Iain Stirling, Watchdog host Nikki Fox and Ted Lasso actor Kola Bokinni.
She admits her cooking skills are very limited, so the jury’s out on whether she can impress judges John Torode and Grace Dent.
But how much do you really know about GK?
What happened with Grace’s controversy on her podcast last year? Which professional female footballer is she dating? And what is her real name? Here’s all the details.
Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off: GK Barry’s real name
GK Barry was born on August 12, 1999. This makes her 26 years old. GK’s real name is Grace Eleanor Keeling. She borrowed the ‘Barry’ from her best friend’s surname.
GK’s online content blew up during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, when she was frequently posting hilarious videos about her life as a Nottingham Trent University student. She gained more than one million followers on the short-form video platform in just over a year.
After leaving university, where she studied film at undergraduate and obtained a Master’s in digital marketing, Grace launched her own series named The Saving Grace Podcast in April 2022.
Grace has since welcomed many famous faces onto the chart-topping podcast, including Alison Hammond and Alan Carr to share details of their life (both past and present) and chat about the latest trends.
GK now has nearly five million followers across her social media platforms.
GK Barry’s Saving Grace podcast controversy
While The Saving Grace Podcast is usually commended for being light-hearted and funny, the star came under fire after sitting down with controversial adult star Bonnie Blue. In October 2024, the host received backlash for giving Bonnie a platform. On the podcast, the OnlyFans creator spoke openly about sleeping with “hundreds” of “barely legal” men.
Viewers argued that the content was harmful to GK’s young audience and glorified such behaviour. This ultimately resulted in the podcast episode being deleted, along with all long and short-form social media clips related to it.
One of the main criticisms surrounding the interview was that Grace didn’t challenge anything that Bonnie said.
Grace initially remained silent following the social media storm. Some fans speculated that the podcast host had gone into hiding. However, it was later revealed she had jetted off to Australia to take part in I’m A Celebrity.
Who is GK Barry’s footballer girlfriend?
Grace is in a relationship with Ipswich Town striker Ella Rutherford. She confirmed their romance last year.
In May 2024, the star announced that she was dating a female footballer and it later came out in June that the athlete in question played for England. The soccer star then took to Instagram to essentially hard-launch the relationship.
Grace has previously explained that Ella is her first female partner and even stated that she wouldn’t go back to dating men, telling her podcast listeners: “I feel like I went very wrong with men. I don’t like men any more – I will never go back to a man. God forbid. Yeah, I just love it.
“I feel like I’ve got spring in my step. I feel like I’m glowing. It’s the lesbian glow. I’ve got it. And yeah, that’s my life update.”
Ella shared pictures of herself and Grace following her I’m A Celebrity signing, captioning the post: “My little jungle babe.”
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What else has GK been in?
Grace has now been featured on television multiple times.
GK Barry starred in season three of Locked In, Footasylum’s YouTube show where social media influencers must live and work together to win prizes. The series filmed the creators locked in a house and stripped of all technology.
In 2023, Grace also appeared on the Channel 4 show Don’t Look Down, alongside Chris Hughes and Paddy McGuinness. It’s safe to say it didn’t look like she thoroughly enjoyed the thrilling challenges as a viral clip showed her screaming with fear into the abyss.
She finished I’m A Celebrity in fifth place.
The TikTok star has become a regular on ITV’s Loose Women panel. She her debut on the lunchtime show back in August 2024. In doing so, she became the series’ new youngest panelist, a crown previously held by Frankie Bridge.
@channel4 @Grace is the first to level up #DontLookDownC4 #GKBarry
Grace’s mental health battle
Despite seeming like a very confident woman, Grace has openly spoken about her battle with anxiety and how she manages it.
She previously said gaining a platform and becoming famous has helped with the issue. In an interview with OK!, she said: “I used to be really nervous, to do anything or talk to anyone. But everything that I’m doing is pushing me out of my comfort zone and building my confidence.
“When I first started this journey, I wouldn’t even get on public transport on my own… it’s really made me a lot more independent and confident. It’s all quite surreal.”
Revealing how she overcame her self-doubt, Grace added: “A glass of prosecco, that eases the nerves! But also, I just remind myself that I have every right to be here as well. It is truly a case of fake it until you make it for me.”
What time is Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off?
You can catch GK, Iain, Nikki and Kola in Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off tonight (Monday December 22, 2025).
The one-off show starts at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer and it is on for an hour. The celebs will be set two challenges, before John and Grace award one the coveted Golden Whisk.
But who is this year’s champ going to be?
Read more: What’s on TV tonight – highlights for Monday, December 22 include Amanda & Alan’s Spanish Christmas
