I hope talking about my rape ordeal will help others, says GK Barry as she bravely reveals attack by older male boss

SHE’S usually joking about being hungover or sharing silly stories on the Loose Women panel but influencer GK Barry – real name Grace Keeling – has carried a traumatic secret. Now, for the first time, Grace is bravely discussing her horror ordeal in a bid to help other women. GK Barry has opened up for the first time about a traumatic sexual assault which has happened when she was 17 Credit: Euan Danks Grace, who rose to fame on TikTok, was raped by an older man while doing work experience at the age of 17. She had sworn never to discuss it publicly, preferring to pretend the horrific incident hadn’t happened. But after learning that one in four women have been raped or sexually assaulted from the age of 16*, she decided to open up about it in her new book, It’s Giving Life, in the hope that other girls going through something similar will feel less alone. Speaking for the first time about the sexual assault, the 27-year-old says: “Until now, only five people knew about this, including my mum, dad and girlfriend Ella [Rutherford, 26, former England footballer]. I was never planning to write about it, but I realised it was really important. “My audience is young, and if sharing this helps even one of them, then it will be worth it. Hopefully, if they are ever in a situation like I was, they will be able to say no. Sadly, I know plenty of women have stories like this, and I want them to know it’s not their fault and that they didn’t do anything wrong. “I always thought rape was someone in a dark alleyway jumping out at you – but it wasn’t like that at all.” It was during her second year of college, while Grace was on a week’s work experience, that the rape happened. She struggled to get a lift to the office, and the man she was reporting to offered to pick her up on his way in. He was 10 years older than her. I am still a bit anxious even now about sharing this and what people are going to say, bravely says GK Credit: Euan Danks Keeping her attack secret took its toll on Grace Credit: Euan Danks She writes in her book: “As we were driving in that morning, he kept touching my leg, which was making me uncomfortable, although I didn’t feel able to ask him to stop. There was a massive imbalance of power going on, which he was 100% taking advantage of.” Instead of driving her straight to the office, the man took Grace to a deserted park, where he demanded she give him oral sex. She explains: “I didn’t know what else to do except go along with what he was telling me. Resisting or fighting back felt like it might make things worse. There was never a moment in my mind where I thought I could say no to what was happening. I was only 17 and scared. I wasn’t able to process the situation and think logically.” Horrifically, it wasn’t the end of Grace’s ordeal. She continued her work experience – she says she was scared that if she didn’t complete it, she would fail her course and not get into university. On the last day, her attacker told the other members of staff to go home. He then took Grace to a room, which he locked. He told her to remove her jeans and assaulted her, leaving her in pain and bleeding. “Rape. It’s taken me 10 years to realise that’s what it was,” she says. “He was a good-looking guy with tattoos, and to start with, I thought it was flattering that he was giving me attention. So I blamed myself. But when we went to the park, I kept thinking: ‘I should have said no firmer.’ I had already failed my GCSEs, so had to do an extra year at college and if you didn’t do your work experience, you didn’t pass the course. It was make-or-break for me going to uni, which at that age felt like a huge deal. I thought: ‘I just will never tell anyone about this.’ “I know now he had a position of power. He was significantly older than me. I have come to terms with the fact it was really f**ked up, and he shouldn’t have done it.” Grace kept her secret for a year, but when she heard another girl from the course was going to the same place for work experience, she was terrified he would rape her, too. I’ve never had any therapy to deal with it, but it did help to tell people, especially Ella, admits GK Credit: Getty Images for TRESemmé Profes Until now, only five people knew about GK’s horrific ordeal including her mum Credit: Shutterstock “My gut said: ‘It’s 100% going to happen to her. I have to say something,’” she says. “I would have been happy never talking about it ever again. But I had to. I think it actually caused me even more trauma having to relive it. “The teacher said that because I was 17 they had to tell my mum, and then we had to tell the police. I can remember it all so clearly. We were in the college canteen and people were just having lunch, and I had to sit down with my mum and tell her what had happened. “She didn’t blame me. She was more in shock. She felt bad. She was worried about telling my dad and how upset he would be that he hadn’t protected me. But of course it wasn’t his fault. I still have never spoken to him about it. “A few days later, I spoke to a female police officer about it. I sat in her car and she said: ‘There’s very little point taking this further. There’s no evidence. It’s your word against his. You were texting each other. With a court, it will look black and white and it’s hard to get a conviction without significant evidence. It could make you more upset.’ I kind of understood what she was saying, as a whole year had passed. “But at no point did she say that he had done anything wrong.” Grace says she was offered no help or support, and even though she is not sure she would have taken it, it would have been comforting to know it was there for her. “I can understand why people don’t want to go to the police, because there are such low rates of conviction in rape cases. I’ve since learned there are charities like Rape Crisis that are amazing and can offer support, because unless you are in that situation you don’t know how you will react. You can contact them any time, even a decade later, and they will still be there to help and listen. GK is usually joking about being hungover or sharing silly stories on the Loose Women panel Credit: Shutterstock GK shot to fame after appearing on I’m A Celeb and finishing in fifth place Credit: Shutterstock “I’ve never had any therapy to deal with it, but it did help to tell people, especially Ella. I told her quite soon after we got together two years ago, because I felt so comfortable with her. She was so great. She said: ‘That’s awful and it’s not your fault.’ “I am still a bit anxious even now about sharing this and what people are going to say. But I know what happened, and I really hope that it’s comforting to people in a similar situation. “I think the perception is that rapists are creepy men lurking in the dark, but actually most rapes happen with people you know, or are friends with, and that makes it so much harder. It’s not all men, but it is always men. The majority of women have some experience of being letched over, all the way up to serious offences.” Keeping her attack secret took its toll on Grace when she went to Nottingham Trent University to do film studies. “Uni was a time when I let loose. I had nothing holding me back and there were no reminders of home. I was just having fun. But I did put myself in a lot of stupid situations, because I thought: ‘F**k it, this has already happened to me. What else is there to lose?’ It was very unhealthy. I did go off the rails a bit then. Thankfully, I’m back on them and much better now.” But Grace still carries the effects of what happened today, admitting she prefers to surround herself with women at work – all her management and press teams are female. While she has tried to process what happened, she does still fear that one day she might run into her attacker. “Sometimes I struggle with going home to Cambridge,” she says. “It feels heavy, but I avoid places where I might see him. I don’t even like driving past where I did my work experience. My biggest worry is randomly bumping into him, because I don’t know how I’d react if he tried to talk to me.” While the book obviously deals with heavy topics, it is also, in typical GK fashion, a funny read. She addresses coming out, battling “hanxiety” when hungover, how her dad inadvertently ended up at a party with President Trump, and her refusal to have any cosmetic work done despite people regularly offering her free surgery. “There’s stuff I could have done at 18 that I would have regretted so badly, like a nose job or a BBL,” she says. “If you want stuff done, that’s fine, but remember body trends change, so it’s about accepting yourself first. Have I accepted myself yet? Not really, no, but I’m trying!” Grace is also trying to accept her body, regardless of her weight. She has always been slim, but after seeing comments criticising her for putting on a few pounds at the Capital Summertime Ball in 2023, she became obsessed with her size. Grace still carries the effects of what happened today, admitting she prefers to surround herself with women at work Credit: Euan Danks WHERE TO GET SUPPORT THE Rape Crisis support line is available 24/7 in England and Wales on 0808 500 2222, with free online chat also available via Rapecrisis.org.uk/get-help/want-to-talk. If something sexual happened without your consent, or you’re not sure, you can get in touch at any time. Trained specialists are there to listen, support and provide information for anyone affected by sexual violence, as well as those supporting them. The service is for people of all genders aged 16 and over, and no matter how long ago it happened. “I’ve always been very used to being thin, so when you put even a tiny bit of weight on, that’s all you think about. It feels like the end of the world. I went drastically the other way. “Then people were accusing me of being on Ozempic. I am not on the jabs. I am actually scared of needles, but also it just feels a bit too much for me.” While she is pro fat jabs for the health benefits, she worries that we will end up in a world where it will become unacceptable to be bigger than a size 10. She also has no time for influencers on jabs who claim their weight loss is down to fitness. “I know it’s no one’s business, but if you’re in the public eye, unfortunately it is. And if I ever got anything done, I would come online and be like: ‘Oh gosh, I’m really sorry,’ and do my public apology that I did get my nose done.” And there’s no doubt she would. The most refreshing thing about Grace is that she really owns her mistakes. She almost got cancelled for interviewing adult content creator Bonnie Blue on her podcast in October 2024, and got in trouble for making lewd jokes during the draw for the quarter-final and semi-final of the Women’s League Cup in November. “It was not great going through it and I learned a massive lesson from it. I’m glad I made those mistakes when I wasn’t as big, and I’ve taken on those lessons. I’ve been through the ringer a bit, so I am more careful now. Not everyone is going to like me, and that’s fine,” she says. “At the end of the day, my sister-in-law is a paramedic, so when I say: ‘I’ve had a stressful day,’ I’ve had my hair and make-up done and been on Loose Women. No one died. People can moan about the trolling, but realistically, compared to other jobs, I’m so lucky. I drive a pink Lambo. I have no right to complain. My life is good.” It’s Giving Life: A Guide To Surviving And Thriving by GK Barry (£22, Ebury Spotlight) is out Thursday.