Cat Burns' life from sexuality struggle to double diagnosis as she performs on Strictly

The singer songwriter, who many will recognise from the Celebrity Traitors, has been open about difficulties she has faced

If you hadn't heard of Cat Burns a few weeks ago, you may well have now after she became one of the celebrities to star on Celebrity Traitors.

Cast as a Traitor alongside Jonathan Ross and Alan Carr, she has made it all the way to the final in the hopes of winning £10,000 for her charity, with the dramatic final scenes set to air next week.

The 25-year-old singer songwriter is tonight appearing on another huge BBC show as she performs on Strictly Come Dancing.

Read more Strictly's Claudia Winkleman's real reason for trademark fringe as she looks unrecognisable at 18

She has just released a new album, How To Be Human, after releasing her debut album, Early Twenties, last year.

Cat rose to prominence with her 2020 single "Go". The song's popularity increased in 2022 through TikTok, eventually reaching number two on the UK singles chart.

She has been nominated three times for the Brit Awards but never won, yet.

But what else do we know about the songstress outside of her career?

Below we look at her double diagnosis and the struggle she faced coming out as a lesbian to her family.

Cat Burns's double diagnosis

Full name Catrina Burns-Temison, she was born in Streatham, London, and attended the Brit School in Croydon.

She followed in her mother's footsteps for her career, as her mum is also a singer.

Cat was diagnosed with ADHD in 2021, and then autism in 2023.

She has been open about both neurodevelopmental differences, revealing being diagnosed with autism left her with a better understanding of herself, saying life now "makes sense".

Speaking about her ADHD diagnosis with BBC Newsbeat, she said: "It was non-stop, thinking about experiences in school like revising and studying and all the other things I struggled with daily."

She added: "I knew I had ADHD but I still felt there was a difference in my brain that I wanted to understand and explore.

"So once I got my autism diagnosis that helped me understand myself and just how much I've had to do in order to get to where I am."

Cat said she believes her road to diagnosis was harder because she's a woman and person of colour.

"I think it comes from the research that's out there and the idea lots believe women can't have autism, and then on top of that adults can't have autism," she continues.

"It [research] needs to be across the board, but especially with women and black women."

Cat Burns on coming out to her family

Cat is a lesbian, and spoke about her sexuality in an interview with the Gay Times.

She said: "If you're a Black woman, I want you to feel heard and seen.

"We are vulnerable people who are capable of having lots of emotions.

"And, being a Black queer woman adds a layer to that."

She also sang about her experience with coming out to her family in her song 'Free'.

They lyrics reveal how worried she was to tell them: "If you only knew how scared I was to tell you.

"Built it up so much in my head that I let you down. If you only knew the pain I put my heart through.

"Living a lie for a life can be tiring, so I choose the truth.

"But you would say 'Keep it on the low, nobody needs to know'.

"They might not see you the same. But I'm too far gone, I know what I want. I know who just I am.

"Now I'm free, now I'm free. There's no way you can tell me who I'm supposed to be.

"See now I'm free, now I'm free (Free, free). Oh, what a feeling. Oh, what a f****** relief.

"If you only knew, for years I was so confused.

"Pushed it right to the back of my head, but always knew what it meant.

"I was the deepest blue, my strings wandered out of tune.

"Couldn't see the wood from the trees, yeah, I didn't know what to do."