The Women's Super League has issued an apology after influencer GK Barry, known for her appearance on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, caused outrage with her unprofessional conduct during the Women's League Cup draw. The 26-year-old, whose real name is Grace Keeling, was hired alongside her partner Ella Rutherford, a Portsmouth player, to attract a younger audience via TikTok, where she boasts 4.1 million followers.
The draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, streamed live on TikTok at 6pm on Tuesday, quickly descended into chaos. GK Barry began by saying, 'What I'm going to do is give it a shake and a spank for luck, bit of fun,' before hitting the bag containing the balls against her backside. She also joked about 'lesbians handling balls' and ended the stream with an innuendo about Subway's sandwiches, saying, 'Even if you're a lesbian, get a footlong.'
Her lack of football knowledge was evident when she asked what colours Chelsea and Liverpool play in, and after being told Chelsea had been drawn away, she replied, 'I don't know what that means!' The most controversial moment came when she sang an anti-Tottenham chant, 'What do we think of Tottenham?', before drawing Tottenham's ball, putting it back, and then picking it up again. An adjudicator confirmed she had selected the same ball, avoiding a re-draw.
Tottenham have since received an apology from the WSL. Social media erupted with criticism, with one fan calling it 'an insult to female footballers of all ages and their clubs.' Another questioned, 'How can you even call that a draw when she's looking in the bag?' GK Barry has not commented but posted a meme of a dog on Instagram, hinting she is aware of the backlash.
