When Cath Bowie’s grandson first showed her Fortnite in 2017, he made a critical tactical error. He told her nobody would follow her if she tried to stream. A 17-year-old doubting his grandmother’s gaming credentials was, as she put it, “like a red rag to a bull.”
Eight years and 24,000 followers later, Cath is now a Guinness World Record holder — officially the oldest female Fortnite streamer on Twitch. She turned 78 on September 1, 2026. Her grandson, wisely, no longer mentions it.
The Record That Started with a Dare
Cath Bowie, from Moray and now based in Inverurie, had tried other video games before Fortnite but nothing had properly grabbed her. When her grandson — then 17 — pulled up the battle royale game one day, something finally clicked.
“I was immediately hooked,” she told Guinness World Records. She bought her own console and started streaming under the username grumpygran1948 — a name her granddaughter chose for her, despite Cath’s firm protestations that she does not actually grump.
The grandson, for his part, was unconvinced she would find an audience. “As a young guy he just couldn’t believe that his grandma would do such a thing and suggested that nobody would join me or watch me,” she recalled. “Saying that was like a red rag to a bull to me. I would show him that I could do it. Twenty-four thousand followers later and he doesn’t mention it. I wonder why?”
Guinness World Records has now made it official, naming her the oldest Fortnite streamer on Twitch (female) and including her in the Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition 2027. Cath’s message to anyone who raises an eyebrow about gaming at her age has stayed the same throughout: “Never let anyone tell you that you’re too old. You are never too old to start gaming. Do it.”
Not Playing for Victory Royales
Ask Cath what she is actually after when she fires up Fortnite and the answer is refreshingly direct. Victory Royales — the game’s ultimate prize, earned by outlasting every other player — are not really the point. Something more primal drives her daily sessions.
“The one thing I do like, you see — this is me and my challenging nature — is to go in and eliminate folk,” she told the BBC’s Radio Scotland Breakfast programme.
She streams for up to six hours a day, and the game, she insists, has never lost its spark. “The most important thing of all is that in all these years I have continued to enjoy every day, every week, every month and every year that I have played and streamed,” she said. Nearly nine years in, that enthusiasm shows no sign of fading.
Fast fact: Cath has played Fortnite since September 2017 — just two months after the Battle Royale mode launched, long before it became a global cultural phenomenon.
It Is the Community That Keeps Her Coming Back
Cath is clear that the game itself is only part of the appeal. The people she has met through Fortnite — across the UK, the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia — are what make the daily sessions worthwhile.
“It’s super meeting all these folk. The chat we have, it’s lovely — I’ve had folk with me for quite a few years now,” she said. On Twitch, she describes herself as “chatty, friendly, never toxic and a true bot.” Given the 24,000-strong following she has built, at least three of those claims appear to be accurate.
Alice Bell, editor of the Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition 2027, noted the broader significance: “At Guinness World Records we believe gaming is for everyone. This edition showcases gamers of different generations and cultures from around the world.”
For anyone in Scotland or beyond who is considering picking up a controller for the first time at any age, Cath’s advice is simple. “If I can do it, so can you.”
