Gareth Barlow was born on 31 May 1990 in Reading, Berkshire, England. He later moved with his family to North Yorkshire. Details about his parents are not publicly available, though they did not come from a farming background. He was privately educated at St Peter’s School in York before briefly attending Durham University in 2008 to study zoology, leaving after one year.

At just seventeen, Barlow sold his Xbox and used the money to buy six sheep. Despite having no farming background, he grew his flock to nearly 600 animals by the age of 23, supplying lamb to Michelin-starred restaurants and prestigious farm shops across the UK. He trained as a butcher and slaughterman, and his story attracted wide national and global media coverage. He stopped farming at the end of 2013.

In 2014 he joined BBC Radio York, hosting the weekly programme Yorkshire Farming, and also contributed to BBC One’s Countryfile and BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today. In 2017 he joined the BBC World Service as a broadcast journalist working across both radio and television, later presenting bulletins on the BBC News Channel, BBC World News, and working for radio stations in the United States and New Zealand.

On 7 January 2024 it was announced that Barlow had joined Sky News to present Sky News Breakfast alongside Kay Burley. Following Burley’s departure from Sky News, on 2 October 2025 the network announced that Barlow would move to anchor his own show, airing between 6am–7am and again from 10am–1pm.

Gareth Barlow is openly gay and is married to Charlie Lailey. The couple lives in London and keeps their personal life largely private