If you remember Katy O’Grady from Project Catwalk, you may be surprised by how much her life changed after the fashion competition. She was introduced to television audiences as a young designer with a strong creative identity, but her story did not end when the cameras stopped rolling.
Katy O’Grady became particularly well known through the third series of Sky One’s Project Catwalk in 2008, where she reached the final stages of the competition. She later married English actor Barry Sloane, and the couple have built a family while Katy’s own professional interests have evolved beyond fashion.
That makes Katy an interesting figure for anyone searching for her Project Catwalk appearance, her husband, or her age today. There is also an important distinction between what is publicly documented and what is simply repeated on celebrity websites. Katy has not had the same level of media coverage as her husband, so some details about her private life are surprisingly difficult to verify.
Here is a clear look at what is known about Katy O’Grady, her Project Catwalk journey, marriage to Barry Sloane, family life and career after television.
Who Is Katy O’Grady?
Katy O’Grady is an English fashion designer who first gained wider public attention as a contestant on the third series of Project Catwalk.
The British fashion reality show followed aspiring designers as they competed in increasingly demanding creative challenges. The third series premiered on January 9, 2008, and featured 13 designers competing for a £25,000 prize, a clothing range opportunity and a fashion spread in Grazia. Kelly Osbourne presented the series.
Katy was 23 years old during the competition. Contemporary discussion of the programme also identified her as being from the Liverpool area, with her Liverpool accent becoming one of the details viewers noticed.
She was not simply an early-exit contestant. Katy progressed deep into the competition and demonstrated that she could perform under very different design briefs.
Katy O’Grady’s quick facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Katy O’Grady |
| Profession | Fashion designer; later wellness/creative practitioner |
| Known for | Project Catwalk Series 3 |
| Project Catwalk age | 23 |
| Competition result | 5th place |
| Husband | Barry Sloane |
| Marriage | 2013 |
| Children | Two |
| Daughter | Gracie Bluebell Sloane |
| Son | Lennon Michael Sloane |
Katy’s own professional website now describes her journey as a transformation from fashion designer to Reiki master, meditation teacher and author.
Katy O’Grady on Project Catwalk
Katy appeared in the third series of Project Catwalk, which aired from January through March 2008.
Her final placement was fifth out of 13 designers, with Jasper Garvida ultimately winning the competition. Chelsey Oliver finished runner-up and Viv Whelan came third.
Her performance is more impressive when the individual challenges are considered.
She won the Mac challenge
One of Katy’s strongest moments came in Episode 3, titled “Mac Daddy.”
The contestants had to reinvent the Macintosh, with designers working around the challenge of turning a familiar functional item into fashion. Katy and Ross Hancock won the challenge.
That victory matters because it demonstrates something that can get lost when people simply search for a contestant’s final position: Katy was capable of winning individual challenges, not merely surviving eliminations.
Katy also won the airline challenge
Her second major success came in Episode 8.
The designers were asked to create an airline flight-attendant uniform for Flybe. Katy won the challenge, while the judges ultimately decided not to eliminate anyone that week.
This is one of the more interesting aspects of her Project Catwalk record. Katy’s two documented challenge victories came from very different design problems:
- reinventing an everyday garment/material concept;
- designing a functional professional uniform.
That suggests adaptability rather than dependence on one particular aesthetic.
Why was Katy eliminated?
Katy reached Episode 9, where the remaining designers faced the Kelly Osbourne evening-gown challenge.
She was eliminated alongside Ross Hancock. That left Jasper Garvida, Chelsey Oliver and Viv Whelan to compete in the finale.
So when people describe Katy as a “Project Catwalk finalist,” it is worth being precise. She reached the final stages of the series but did not make the three-designer finale.
Her official competition result was fifth place.
What Happened to Katy O’Grady After Project Catwalk?
This is where Katy’s story becomes less straightforward.
Unlike contestants who continued appearing regularly in fashion television, Katy gradually moved away from being primarily known as a television fashion personality.
Her current professional biography says that over approximately 15 years she transformed from a fashion designer into a Reiki master, meditation teacher and author. She now presents herself professionally under the name Katy Sloane.
That evolution is an important part of understanding her career.
A search for Katy O’Grady can easily give the impression that she simply disappeared after Project Catwalk. That isn’t quite right. Rather, her public professional identity changed.
Instead of continuing to build a conventional fashion-design career in the public eye, she moved toward:
- Reiki and energy work
- meditation
- crystals
- spirituality and wellness
- writing
- personal development
Her current website describes her as a crystal expert and explains that her work focuses on helping people find greater balance in areas including relationships, career and spirituality.
This is one of the less commonly discussed parts of Katy’s post-Project Catwalk story.
Who Is Katy O’Grady’s Husband?
Katy O’Grady is married to English actor Barry Sloane.
Sloane is known for television roles including Hollyoaks, Revenge, The Whispers, Longmire, SIX and other productions. He is also widely recognized in gaming for providing the voice and motion performance for Captain John Price in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series.
The couple married in 2013. Sources documenting Sloane’s personal life consistently identify Katy O’Grady as his wife and note that they have two children.
Interestingly, Katy’s career and Barry’s career took different paths after their relationship became established. Barry became increasingly visible through acting projects, while Katy developed a more private professional identity around wellness and spirituality.
Did Katy and Barry have children?
Yes.
Katy and Barry have two children:
- Gracie Bluebell Sloane, born in 2010
- Lennon Michael Sloane, born in 2016
These details are documented in biographical sources covering Barry Sloane’s personal life.
The timing is also notable. Their daughter was born before their 2013 marriage, while their son was born several years afterward.
How Old Is Katy O’Grady?
This is one of the questions where caution is necessary.
Katy O’Grady was 23 years old when she competed on Project Catwalk in 2008.
That gives us a reliable reference point, but her exact date of birth is not as well documented in reputable publicly available sources.
Some online biography pages currently list her as 42, but those pages do not provide a clearly verifiable full birth date.
Therefore, the safest way to state her age is:
Katy O’Grady was 23 during Project Catwalk Series 3 in 2008 and is approximately 41–42 years old in 2026, depending on her exact birthday.
This is preferable to presenting an unverified birth date as established fact.
Why the age information is confusing
Celebrity databases often calculate someone’s age from an assumed birth year. When a person’s complete birth date has not been reliably published, different websites can produce different numbers.
For Katy, the documented fact is her age during Project Catwalk: 23.
Everything beyond that should be treated as an estimate unless supported by a primary source.
Katy O’Grady and Barry Sloane: A Different Kind of Celebrity Story
There is an interesting contrast between Katy and Barry’s public profiles.
Barry’s career has involved major television and entertainment projects, making his professional history relatively easy to track. Katy’s public profile, meanwhile, is much more closely associated with her earlier fashion career and her later wellness work.
That difference can make searches for “Katy O’Grady husband” slightly misleading. Her husband is famous in his own right, but Katy isn’t simply known because she married an actor.
She had already established herself publicly through Project Catwalk before their marriage.
In fact, her Project Catwalk appearance came years before the couple married in 2013. The relationship therefore forms one chapter of her biography rather than the beginning of it.
What Makes Katy O’Grady’s Story Interesting?
There are three details that are particularly easy to overlook.
1. She was a challenge winner, not just a contestant
Katy’s fifth-place finish can make her Project Catwalk career look less significant than it was.
She won two challenges: the “Mac Daddy” challenge and the airline-uniform challenge.
That means her record included both high points and a strong late-stage run.
2. Her career changed direction
The biggest development after television was not another major fashion-show appearance.
Katy’s own professional biography says that she moved from fashion design into Reiki, meditation, crystals and related wellness work.
For someone searching only for her television history, this career transition can easily be missed.
3. Her public identity changed with her career
Katy O’Grady is now also professionally presented as Katy Sloane.
That helps explain why searches under her maiden name may produce fewer recent results than searches associated with her married name. Her current professional site identifies her as Katy Sloane while describing her previous career as a fashion designer.
FAQ
Is Katy O’Grady from Project Catwalk still married to Barry Sloane?
Yes. Katy O’Grady married actor Barry Sloane in 2013, and publicly available biographical information identifies them as a married couple with two children.
What place did Katy O’Grady get on Project Catwalk?
Katy O’Grady finished fifth in Series 3 of Project Catwalk. She made it to Episode 9 of the 10-episode series before being eliminated alongside Ross Hancock.
How old was Katy O’Grady on Project Catwalk?
Katy was 23 years old when she competed on the third series of Project Catwalk in 2008. Contemporary discussion of the show also described her as a 23-year-old from the Liverpool area.
What does Katy O’Grady do now?
Katy’s current professional identity is focused on wellness and spirituality. Her own website describes her as a Reiki master, meditation teacher, crystal expert and author, following her earlier career as a fashion designer.
How many children do Katy O’Grady and Barry Sloane have?
They have two children, daughter Gracie Bluebell, born in 2010, and son Lennon Michael, born in 2016.
Did Katy O’Grady win Project Catwalk?
No. She did not win the overall competition. Jasper Garvida won Series 3, while Katy finished fifth; however, she did win individual challenges during the series.
Final Thoughts
Katy O’Grady’s story is more interesting than a simple “Project Catwalk contestant” biography suggests. At 23, she competed against 12 other designers and reached fifth place, winning two individual challenges along the way.
Her life afterward followed a less conventional path. She married actor Barry Sloane in 2013, became a mother of two, and eventually shifted her professional focus from fashion toward Reiki, meditation, crystals and personal development.
The most useful takeaway is that Katy did not vanish after reality television. Her public career simply changed direction. If you’re researching her today, searching only for Project Catwalk tells only the first part of the story.
