GK Barry on how I'm A Celeb helped her to be her authentic self

If you didn't already think GK Barry was an icon, you will now, after seeing her thrive in the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! jungle. While the podcaster is renowned for her one-liners and hilarious stories, which often go viral on TikTok, it was getting to know the real Grace Keeling that warmed her fellow celebrities and viewers alike to the 25-year-old.

"You've all made me feel really valid, and all my feelings valid," Grace told her campmates during a particularly candid moment. "You've really changed the way I see myself and maybe how I let other people treat me. You have all treated me really nicely."

After roughly 18 days in the jungle, Grace was the eighth celeb to leave the jungle, and we caught up with her in her first exclusive interview back in the real world. Here, she touches on everything from how she feels more herself than ever, her jungle highlight and lowlight, and the lessons she'll take with her from camp life.

Hey Grace! How would you summarise your jungle experience?

Hey queen. I would say it was tough, incredible, and thankfully, a once in a lifetime opportunity. But I'm very glad I did it.

How did it differ from what you were expecting?

I thought it would be full of telly loopholes and we wouldn't actually have to use the dunny - I thought there would be a little portaloo and some toilet roll, and we'd get snacks when we were hungry. But it was so much tougher than I thought it was going to be. The sheer boredom and the hunger. And I haven't really done camping [before], so it's put me off for life.

Please could you share a high and a low from your time on the show?

The highlight for me was sitting around the fire the night before I got voted off, having a glass of wine and just chatting with all the campmates about our experience. Then someone sang, which did ruin the moment...

A low light for me was the second trial I did with the water, which was horrific. This year, the whole experience was freezing and rainy, and that specific challenge was in freezing cold water. It was cold outside anyway, and then I had to go back to camp and wash in a freezing cold waterfall.

In the jungle, you shared how validated you felt by your campmates. Why was that?

I went in there assuming everyone was going to hate me and find me really annoying, and everyone was just so nice to me. I used to go online and look for nasty things people had said about me, to confirm what I thought was true. And they all had a massive go at me for doing that, and it just made me feel really comfortable.

They gave me a lot of advice that I've taken with me to the outside world, about people's opinions, and not to worry about the opinions that don't matter to me. I don't know why I got so emotional.

A lot of the response on social media has been so positive too, with people sharing their admiration for you being so open and honest.

The response has been lovely. I was really anxious to go [in the jungle] with my skin, because I had such bad [flare ups] and I thought everyone on the internet was going to be really horrible about it. But I came out and everyone was fine. And Coleen [Rooney] did my hair every day anyway, so I had absolutely nothing to worry about.

You mentioned briefly that your campmates all shared advice with you...

Jane specifically took me to one side and said, 'If you dare read a hate comment when you get out, I will be fuming.' She said such lovely things to me like, 'Would you walk into a pub and ask people what they think of you?' and when I said no, she replied, 'So why did you go searching for it online?'

You were also super open about your experience coming out. Was that something you expected to share?

I thought half of the stuff I said in there, I wasn't going to say! But day one of meeting everyone, we all just started unleashing our lives, and it's because we felt so comfortable with each other. We were all just saying stuff that you wouldn't even tell someone after knowing them for three years.

A lot of the time, we did forget the cameras were there. And when Dean asked me about my coming out story, I told him. And then the Rev[erand Richard Coles] came in, so there was another gay in the jungle. We were just constantly talking about being gay.

What lessons did you learn that you hope to implement into real life?

I learned that I would like to spend more time with my friends and family, and not just work all of the time.

I feel a lot more confident now because people have actually seen me at my worst and most pathetic, so it can only go up from here. And I feel like I won't care what people think that much anymore, because I think people have seen another side to me that's not just GK Barry. I feel more confident going ahead and just being me.

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Is that because of your campmates, or because you haven't seen negativity since coming out like you expected?

My campmates said to me that the first few days in there, I was maybe trying to make everyone laugh and be GK Barry. And then I thought to myself, 'I can't do stand up for three weeks.' So I just started being myself. And people were like, 'We prefer this version of you, and it's so nice to see you grow into that.'

And then when I came out, the positive reaction really did make a difference, because I didn't know what I was going to come out to. I didn't know what had been shown, so I was bracing myself for the worst. Then when I actually came out, it was a nice feeling to see people do like me.

I know when I went in, everyone would be like, 'I'm not going to like her, she's a TikToker.' and then they all backtracked, which was really nice to see. Also, I've previously felt so much pressure when people have come up to me, to be an overemphasised version of myself, whereas now I feel like I can just be me... Although I will still be overdramatic sometimes, absolutely. I will still be drinking Prosecco and getting a bit loose.

We wouldn't expect anything else!