Katherine Louisa Ryan (born 30 June 1983) is a Canadian comedian, writer, presenter, and actress based in the United Kingdom. She has appeared on many British

panel show A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on ''The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on ' ...

s, including as a regular team captain on ''

8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' is a British comedy panel show broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister networks, airing since 3 June 2005. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr; the current team captains are Rob Beckett and Katherine Ryan. The show is based ...

'' and '' Never Mind the Buzzcocks'', ''

A League of Their Own ''A League of Their Own'' is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The film stars Tom Hanks, Geena ...

'', ''

Mock the Week ''Mock the Week'' is a British topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. The programme was present ...

'', '' Would I Lie to You?'', '' QI'', '' Just a Minute, Safeword'', and '' Have I Got News for You''. In 2015, she replaced

Steve Jones Steve or Steven Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Steve Jones (English presenter) (born 1945), English musician, disk jockey, television presenter, and voice-over artist * Steve Jones (musician) (born 1955), English rock and roll guita ...

as the presenter of ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fi ...

'' on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

. As an actress, Ryan has appeared on numerous television series in the UK, including the sitcoms ''

Campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-li ...

'', '' Episodes'', and her

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

show '' The Duchess''. As a

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

, Ryan has appeared on the BBC's '' Live at the Apollo'', both as a featured act and as a lead act. She has had two live stand-up specials released on

: ''Katherine Ryan: In Trouble'' (2017) and '' Katherine Ryan: Glitter Room'' (2019).

Early life

Ryan's father, Finbar, is a draughtsman and owner of an engineering company who originally emigrated from Ireland to Canada. Her mother Julie McCarthy is British/Canadian and owns an IT consulting company. Ryan and her two younger sisters were born and raised in

Sarnia, Ontario Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron f ...

. The three siblings spent time in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Ireland, visiting their paternal grandparents. Ryan's parents separated when she was a teenager. When she was 18, she decided to leave home and chose to study

city planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) in Toronto. While attending university, she worked at restaurant chain

Hooters Hooters is the registered trademark used by two American restaurant chains: Hooters, Inc., based in Clearwater, Florida, and Hooters of America, Inc. based in Atlanta, Georgia, and owned by the private investment firm Nord Bay Capital (with ...

, and she then began training other waitresses. In her spare time she undertook

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether t ...

nights as an alternative form of personal entertainment, and by graduation, she had developed a basic comedic routine. She was one of the many dancers in MuchMusic's ''

Electric Circus ''Electric Circus '' (also known as ''EC'') was a Canadian live dance music television program that aired on MuchMusic and Citytv from September 16, 1988 to December 12, 2003. The name originated from a nightclub that once existed at Citytv's fir ...

'' program.

Career

After graduation, Ryan continued working for Hooters as a corporate trainer, travelling around Canada to train other waitresses, and helping to open the then-only UK branch in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

. Her partner at the time wanted to explore London, so she agreed to do so for an initial month from summer 2007, moving there permanently from January 2008.

As a comedian

Ryan won the

Funny Women Funny Women is an online and in-person workshop community dedicated to the support of female comedians. It was founded by Lynne Parker in 2002 as a reaction to misogynistic comments from a comedy promoter. Funny Women helps women find their voice, ...

award in 2008, Rachel Stubbings and Sara Pascoe were runners up. Ryan first appeared on television as herself in episodes of the Canadian music video review show '' Video on Trial'' between season one in 2005 and her last appearance in 2008 in season three. After relocating to England, she first appeared on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's ''

'' in 2012. She had previously appeared in the cast of Channel 4's ''

''. On 23 February 2013, she appeared as a celebrity contestant on BBC One's ''

Let's Dance for Comic Relief ''Let's Sing and Dance'', formerly known as ''Let's Dance'', is a British television programme shown on BBC One, featuring celebrities performing famous dance routines to raise money for the charities Comic Relief and Sport Relief. The program ...

'' as

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents ...

dancing to "

Starships A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 1882 in '' Oahspe: A N ...

". Ryan reached the final, and finished in fourth place. Ryan was later featured on the

Whitney Cummings Whitney Cummings (born September 4, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, director, producer, investor and podcaster. A native of Washington, DC, Cummings pursued a comedy career in Los Angeles after graduating from the Univer ...

Just for Laughs 2013 Gala that was taped before a live audience on 28 July 2013. She has since taken new routines to the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh F ...

. In 2015, Ryan replaced

as the presenter of ''

'' on

. Also in 2015, Ryan became a panellist for

Tinie Tempah Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu (born 7 November 1988), better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He has been signed to Parlophone Records since 2009, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. He created his own entertainment compa ...

's team on

Sky 1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

's music/comedy panel show '' Bring the Noise'' and on the

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, ...

show, '' Safeword''. In 2016, Ryan appeared on series 2 of '' Taskmaster''. She beat Doc Brown,

Joe Wilkinson Joseph Roland Wilkinson (born 2 May 1975) is an English comedian, actor and screenwriter. He began his comedy career in 2004 and has supported Alan Carr and Russell Howard on tour. He has also made numerous appearances on television programme ...

Richard Osman Richard Thomas Osman (born 28 November 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, novelist and comedian. He is the creator and former co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show '' Pointless''. He has presented the BBC Two quiz sh ...

and Jon Richardson, to win the season. Ryan went on a comedy tour in 2016, called ''Kathbum'', a name her toddler sister used to call her. In February 2017,

released ''Katherine Ryan: In Trouble'', featuring her stand-up comedy live performance at the

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ha ...

in London, during that tour. She joined

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...

in 2017 to host four series of the reboot of '' Your Face or Mine?''. In 2018, Ryan joined American comedy panel show, '' The Fix'' as a team captain. In July 2019, Netflix released her second live stand-up special, '' Katherine Ryan: Glitter Room''.

Actress

As an actress, Ryan has appeared on numerous television series in the UK, including the sitcoms ''

'', '' Episodes'' and '' Badults''. Ryan stars in the August 2020 season 1, Netflix comedy '' The Duchess,'' based on a single mother's life in London; she is credited as its writer, executive producer, and creator.

Other work

On 6 June 2014, YouTube comedy duo Jack and Dean released a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

for their song "Consent" featuring Ryan in an acting role. In 2015 and 2016 Ryan wrote a weekly column in the British entertainment magazine '' NME''. In 2016 she featured in

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven yea ...

and

Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and "cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts an ...

's animated television series ''

Counterfeit Cat ''Counterfeit Cat'' is an animated television series developed by Aardman Animations, Cristina Fiumara, and Ben Marsaud. The series is produced by Wildseed Kids, Tricon Kids & Family, and Aardman Animations, in association with Teletoon, with t ...

'', where she voiced Ranceford, the stuck-up, white, odd-eyed cat and leader of the Sunshine Circle for Cats. In 2021 Ryan hosted the six-part reality competition ''All That Glitters: Britain's Next Jewellery Star'' on BBC2. Also in 2021 she presented the

dating show '' Ready to Mingle''. In November 2022 Ryan was the subject of an interview in the BBC series ''Louis Theroux Interviews...'' with

Louis Theroux Louis Sebastian Theroux (; born 20 May 1970) is a British-American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received two British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award. After graduating fro ...

, during which she told Theroux about the "open secret" of an alleged sexual abuser who was a prominent TV personality.

Recognition

For her comedy work, Ryan won the 2008 Funny Women Award and was described as "the funniest new female stand up in Britain" by a national newspaper.

Personal life

Ryan has previously dated British actor and TV presenter

Jeff Leach Jeff Alexander Leach (born 12 February 1984) is an English actor, writer and stand-up comedian. He has also worked as a television and radio presenter with shows airing in the UK, USA, Australia and Europe. He is most well known for appearing ...

and had a relationship with American comedian

Alex Edelman Alex Edelman (born March 20, 1989) is an American stand-up comedian based in New York City. He is an internationally touring comic and found early success in the United Kingdom where he was named Best Newcomer at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe ...

. In 2019, Ryan entered into a

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

with Bobby Kootstra. The ceremony took place in Denmark in the presence of her daughter. The two had dated in Canada as teenagers and were reunited when Ryan returned to her hometown while filming an episode of the TV show '' Who Do You Think You Are?'' Ryan lives with her partner and daughter in

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new to ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

. Her second child, a son, was born in June 2021. In July 2022 Ryan announced that she was expecting her third child. In December 2022, she gave birth to her second daughter. Her family lives in London in a house described as "stunning" and "incredibly stylish"; ''

Hello! ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the ''Norwich ...

'' magazine said, "With its double-height ceilings, beautiful garden space and modern interiors, it could rival a Kardashian pad." Ryan has been open about the

cosmetic surgery Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes cranio ...

she has had. She had her first

breast augmentation Breast augmentation and augmentation mammoplasty is a cosmetic surgery technique using breast-implants and fat-graft mammoplasty techniques to increase the size, change the shape, and alter the texture of the breasts. Augmentation mammoplasty is ...

in her early 20s, while employed at Hooters, and then a second augmentation after a relationship ended. She has twice been treated for

skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. There are three main types of skin cancers: basal-cell skin cancer (BCC) ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Katherine 21st-century Canadian comedians 1983 births Canadian expatriates in England Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian stand-up comedians Canadian women comedians Comedians from Ontario Living people People from Crouch End People from Sarnia Toronto Metropolitan University alumni Hooters people