Gunning was born on 21 May 1986 in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire.[1] Her parents are Paul and Val Gunning. Her father works for Kirklees council while her mother was a drama teacher at the school Gunning attended Holmfirth High School. She has two siblings Harriet and Josh.[2]
In 2012, she played the character of Orla in the BBC television series White Heat.[8] This was followed by a lead role as Melissa Young in BBC drama What Remains.[9] In 2013, Gunning also played the part of Summer in an episode of Great Night Out for ITV and the following year starred as Siân James in the Golden Globe- and BAFTA-nominated film Pride.[10]
In other television work, Gunning was also seen in The Scandalous Lady W on BBC Two and played Shirley Allerdyce in Sky Atlantic's series Fortitude. She played the character of WPC Kath Morgan in Prime Suspect 1973, DC Sophie Carson in In the Dark and Umm Walid in the Channel 4 drama The State (2017).[7]
Gunning played Jan in the Channel 4 comedy Back,[7] and in 2021 starred as Diane Pemberley in BBC One's The Outlaws, created by Stephen Merchant.[7] Gunning reprised her Outlaws role for series 2 and 3 in 2022 and 2024 respectively, joining the writing team of the show for one episode of the third series.[12]
Gunning is a lesbian, having come out to her family and friends in November 2022.[15] She confirmed her sexuality in a June 2024 interview, describing herself as a "big old gay".[16] Discussing her coming out experience, Gunning said that it was a "mega, mega thing for [her] [...] adding that although she was "surrounded by gays" and that "all [her] friends are gay" so she "wasn't repressing anything", it was just that she didn’t think that she could be gay.[17]
