GK Barry discussed her overnight fame with The Mirror before her entrance into the jungle, with last night’s episode showing her talking to Reverend Richard Coles about her first flashy purchase following her newfound income
Social media star GK Barry has amassed millions of fans in just four years, and she may soon have millions more – if she manages to make it to the final on Sunday night and be crowned Queen of the Jungle.
GK – real name Grace Keeling – rose to fame in 2020 after posting funny skits and commentary on TikTok, building an audience of 3.6 million on the video-sharing platform.
But fame wasn’t always on the vision board for the 25-year-old, with GK telling The Mirror it was “an entirely accidental career for me” as she hadn’t expected to go viral with her videos.
GK Barry opened up about her rise to fame in the jungle last night (
Image:
ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
The star, from Cambridge, also has 1.5 million listeners on her YouTube podcast, Saving Grace, where she interviews celebs and influencers.
However, despite her success, she insists she was terrified about launching herself into the world of internet entertainment. She explained: “I called myself GK Barry because I didn’t want people from school or university finding my videos. I was embarrassed about it at first.
“It’s ironic – when you’re small, a lot of people will judge you for the content you are putting out. But as you start getting bigger, all those people who judged you want to become your best friend.”
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GK made her first big TV appearance in August on Loose Women. Born in 1999, the year the show began, she was one of its youngest panellists. Despite talk of a feud between her and Frankie Bridge, she says the gang are the “nicest people ever”.
GK adds: “I never thought they’d have someone like me on there. And I was so nervous when I first started because I thought, ‘My God, what if no one gets my sense of humour?’ The audience is very different to people who watch my podcast, but it has been received so well and everyone on there is lovely.”
Last night’s I’m A Celeb episode saw Richard quiz GK on her overnight fame and social media success. He asked: “So Grace did you go from working in Costa to all of a sudden being able to buy a house?”
The podcaster replied: “Yeah.” Continuing, Richard queried: “So you didn’t go from poor, poor, poor, a little less poor, a bit more money, you went from poor to rich?”
To which GK answered: “Yeah, pretty quick. And I remember being like, ‘I’m making enough money to buy a new car now’ and I remember a Porsche drove past me as I had that thought.
“I remember thinking, ‘I could buy a Porsche and it would not be an issue.’ I went to the centre, I was looking at an old one that was cheaper, but the one that I wanted was next to it and it was so nice.
“I rang my accountant and I was like, ‘Can I do it?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah’, so I bought it.”
The social media personality, and now TV star, may see her fame and success grow even further if crowned Queen of the Jungle.
