# Katherine Ryan
**Katherine Ryan** is a Canadian comedian, writer, presenter, and actress who has built her career in the United Kingdom, where she has lived since 2008[1](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2242664/katherine-ryan/). She is known for celebrity-bashing stand-up in the mold of [Joan Rivers](https://www.edgepedia.org/joan-rivers), for her ubiquity on British panel shows such as *8 Out of 10 Cats*, *Mock the Week*, *QI*, and *Have I Got News for You*, for two Netflix stand-up specials (*In Trouble* and *Glitter Room*), and for creating and starring in the Netflix sitcom *The Duchess*[1](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2242664/katherine-ryan/) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/nov/06/katherine-ryan-review-churchill-theatre-bromley-glitter-room). She holds dual Canadian-Irish nationality through her Irish-born father[3](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/katherine_ryan/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Born and raised in Canada; grew up in Sarnia, Ontario, and moved to Toronto to study city planning[4](https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/sundayextra/katherine-ryan-youre-so-weird/6401176) |
| UK base | Followed a boyfriend to the UK in 2007; has lived there since 2008 and says her entire career has been there[5](https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2019/01/21/katherine-ryan-on-a-lifelong-love-of-comedy-i-knew-it-could-get-me-out-of-trouble/) • [1](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2242664/katherine-ryan/) |
| Early break | Winner of the 2008 Nivea Funny Women award[6](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/may/09/katherine-ryan-webchat-post-your-questions-now) |
| Netflix | Stand-up specials *In Trouble* (2017) and *Glitter Room* (2019); creator, star, writer, and producer of the sitcom *The Duchess*[7](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80238020) • [1](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2242664/katherine-ryan/) |
| TV presenting | Hosted BBC Two's *Hair*, Channel 4's *How'd You Get So Rich?*, Comedy Central's *Your Face or Mine?* with Jimmy Carr, and BBC's *All That Glitters*[8](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/katherine-ryan-interview-the-comic-talks-edinburgh-her-bbc-series-hair-and-gender-balance-on-panel-shows-10381439.html) • [1](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2242664/katherine-ryan/) |
| Podcasts | *Telling Everybody Everything* and *What's My Age Again?*, on which celebrity guests take blood tests to estimate their biological age[9](https://linktr.ee/kathbum) • [10](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/katherine-ryan-biological-age-shock/) |
| Family | Married Bobby Kootstra, her high-school boyfriend, after reconnecting while filming *Who Do You Think You Are?*; mother of four, including daughter Violet from a previous relationship[11](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/jan/06/i-love-money-katherine-ryan-on-success-feminism-bad-reviews-ballsiness) • [12](https://www.thedailybeast.com/comedian-katherine-ryan-had-serious-cosmetic-surgery-weeks-after-giving-birth/) |
## Early life and move to Britain
Ryan grew up in Sarnia, Ontario, a small town she has described as "kind of where fun goes to die", and moved to Toronto in her late teens to study city planning[4](https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/sundayextra/katherine-ryan-youre-so-weird/6401176). As a student she was poor and took a waitressing job at Hooters, the restaurant chain with scantily clad waitresses, after stumbling on a branch in downtown Toronto; she later became a staff trainer for the chain[4](https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/sundayextra/katherine-ryan-youre-so-weird/6401176) • [13](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jul/03/katherine-ryan-interview-comedy-single-mum-glitter-room). She has said she would not recommend it as a career option but that she learned a lot of life lessons there[8](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/katherine-ryan-interview-the-comic-talks-edinburgh-her-bbc-series-hair-and-gender-balance-on-panel-shows-10381439.html).
Comedy entered her life obliquely. [The Hooters](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hooters) where she worked sat next to a comedy club, and she began working there secretly, treating it like a habit; she estimates it took six to eight years of open-mic gigs before she considered comedy a viable career[14](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/stand_up_central/interviews/katherine_ryan/). Her first screen appearance came at 18, presenting the Canadian reality show *Teens Dating*[6](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/may/09/katherine-ryan-webchat-post-your-questions-now). In 2007 she followed a boyfriend to the UK; the relationship ended, but the residency lasted[5](https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2019/01/21/katherine-ryan-on-a-lifelong-love-of-comedy-i-knew-it-could-get-me-out-of-trouble/). She has said she could probably not have done comedy professionally had she stayed in Canada, and credits the UK's pub-culture comedy audience with letting her develop[14](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/stand_up_central/interviews/katherine_ryan/).
## Stand-up career
Ryan won the 2008 Nivea Funny Women award early in her British career[6](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/may/09/katherine-ryan-webchat-post-your-questions-now). Her debut Edinburgh Fringe show in 2011 drew a poor review from one critic, which she later acknowledged as fair comment; that show, *Little Miss Conception*, was about her mother's obsession with beauty pageants[8](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/katherine-ryan-interview-the-comic-talks-edinburgh-her-bbc-series-hair-and-gender-balance-on-panel-shows-10381439.html) • [15](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2011/08/08/28348/katherine_ryan%3A_little_miss_conception).
**Breakthrough shows.** *Glam Role Model*, which debuted in spring 2014, was an avowedly feminist hour built from her own life: single motherhood, an ex-partner who cheated on her with a glamour model, and riffs on celebrity culture, the abducted Nigerian schoolgirls, and the Gaza crisis[8](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/katherine-ryan-interview-the-comic-talks-edinburgh-her-bbc-series-hair-and-gender-balance-on-panel-shows-10381439.html) • [16](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/edinburgh-festival/katherine-ryan-glam-role-model-stand-v-comedy-review-9642284.html). *Kathbum* (2015), named for the childhood nickname her mother gave her that is now her social-media handle, opened with sustained celebrity-bashing aimed at [Taylor Swift](https://www.edgepedia.org/taylor-swift), David Cameron, Bill Cosby, and a extended impression of Cheryl Cole, and closed with the speech she had written for her sister's wedding[8](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/katherine-ryan-interview-the-comic-talks-edinburgh-her-bbc-series-hair-and-gender-balance-on-panel-shows-10381439.html) • [17](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/edinburgh-festival/katherine-ryan-edinburgh-fringe-review-a-tight-flawless-show-of-celebritybashing-10453318.html). The Guardian reported she was the fastest comedian to sell out at that year's Fringe[18](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/aug/13/katherine-ryan-edinburgh-review-stand-comedy-club).
Her style draws frequent comparison to Joan Rivers, whom she admires; reviewers describe caustic, astringent one-liners and a refusal to self-deprecate[2](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/nov/06/katherine-ryan-review-churchill-theatre-bromley-glitter-room). When she arrived on the UK alternative comedy scene in 2008, her provocation was that she was glamorous and did not pretend otherwise, at a time when the trend on stage was self-deprecation[11](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/jan/06/i-love-money-katherine-ryan-on-success-feminism-bad-reviews-ballsiness).
**A controversial joke.** On *Mock the Week* in 2013, asked for "Things You'd Never Hear in a cosmetics commercial", she said: "We don't test any of our products on animals. We use Filipino children". Death threats followed, and the resulting abusive tweets became material in *Kathbum*, where she asked audiences to read them out[17](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/edinburgh-festival/katherine-ryan-edinburgh-fringe-review-a-tight-flawless-show-of-celebritybashing-10453318.html).
## Television and Netflix
Ryan's career took off on British television, particularly panel and talent shows including *How Did You Get So Rich?*, *8 Out of 10 Cats*, *Have I Got News for You*, and *Mock the Week*[5](https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2019/01/21/katherine-ryan-on-a-lifelong-love-of-comedy-i-knew-it-could-get-me-out-of-trouble/). In 2015 she presented the primetime [BBC Two](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-two) reality series *Hair*, a search for Britain's most talented hair stylist[8](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/katherine-ryan-interview-the-comic-talks-edinburgh-her-bbc-series-hair-and-gender-balance-on-panel-shows-10381439.html). She has also been a judge on *Roast Battle* and *The Fix*, and hosted *Your Face or Mine?* alongside [Jimmy Carr](https://www.edgepedia.org/jimmy-carr) and *All That Glitters* for the BBC[1](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2242664/katherine-ryan/).
Her first Netflix original stand-up special, *Katherine Ryan: In Trouble*, streamed from 2017; her second, *Glitter Room*, launched globally on July 1, 2019, after a four-week run at London's Garrick Theatre[7](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80238020). *Glitter Room* champions single motherhood and criticizes what she calls toxic femininity, including the celebrity idea of the "revenge body"[19](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2019/07/02/43452/katherine_ryan%3A_glitter_room_on_netflix). She created, starred in, wrote, and produced the Netflix sitcom *The Duchess*, about the life of a single mother in London[1](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2242664/katherine-ryan/) • [12](https://www.thedailybeast.com/comedian-katherine-ryan-had-serious-cosmetic-surgery-weeks-after-giving-birth/). In 2022 she hosted *Backstage with Katherine Ryan* on Prime Video, a series pairing stand-up sets with backstage interviews[20](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/how-katherine-ryans-caustic-brand-of-comedy-was-shaped-by-irish-craic/41744004.html).
## Podcasts and writing
Ryan hosts *Telling Everybody Everything*, a podcast that has topped the charts weekly according to her publisher, and *What's My Age Again?*, in which celebrity guests take a blood test to estimate their biological age and discuss the results with biologist Dr Nichola Conlon[1](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2242664/katherine-ryan/) • [21](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/best-podcasts). Her book, *The Audacity: Why Being Too Much Is Exactly Enough*, discusses her life experiences and perspectives[9](https://linktr.ee/kathbum) • [22](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/katherine-ryan-16086.php).
## Personal life
Ryan raised her daughter Violet as a single mother after leaving Violet's father[11](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/jan/06/i-love-money-katherine-ryan-on-success-feminism-bad-reviews-ballsiness). While filming an episode of the genealogy show *Who Do You Think You Are?* in Sarnia, she reconnected with Bobby Kootstra, whom she had dated as a teenager; they married, and she has said they now have three children together plus Violet[11](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/jan/06/i-love-money-katherine-ryan-on-success-feminism-bad-reviews-ballsiness). Her 2022 show *Missus* was an account of that unexpected marriage and their "surprisingly traditional new life together", which reviewers read as a softening of her showy cynical persona[23](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/apr/03/katherine-ryan-review-softer-more-sympathetic-but-just-as-razor-sharp).
She has been open about cosmetic surgery, discussing a post-pregnancy facelift by consultant plastic surgeon Dr Nick Rhodes at the Coppergate Clinic, and earlier breast augmentation inspired by a former Hooters coworker, implants she later had removed[24](https://www.womanandhome.com/beauty/beauty-news/katherine-ryan-honest-take-post-pregnancy-facelift/) • [12](https://www.thedailybeast.com/comedian-katherine-ryan-had-serious-cosmetic-surgery-weeks-after-giving-birth/).
## Public positions
Ryan has spoken about gender balance on British panel shows, arguing that television has to be representative of society[8](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/katherine-ryan-interview-the-comic-talks-edinburgh-her-bbc-series-hair-and-gender-balance-on-panel-shows-10381439.html). In a 2022 conversation with fellow comedian [Sara Pascoe](https://www.edgepedia.org/sara-pascoe) recorded for *Backstage with Katherine Ryan*, she said she had confronted a colleague on a television program because she believed he was a predator, generating widespread headlines[20](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/how-katherine-ryans-caustic-brand-of-comedy-was-shaped-by-irish-craic/41744004.html). In a [Louis Theroux](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-theroux) interview she described an "open secret" in British comedy concerning a famous comedian she called a sex offender, without naming him[25](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio/2025/03/08/katherine-ryan-its-always-disarming-for-people-that-i-just-say-what-i-think/).
## References
1. [Katherine Ryan, author page, Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2242664/katherine-ryan/)
2. [Katherine Ryan review – a comic in supreme command of her shtick, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/nov/06/katherine-ryan-review-churchill-theatre-bromley-glitter-room)
3. [Katherine Ryan, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/katherine_ryan/)
4. [You're so weird! The year that changed Katherine Ryan's life, ABC listen](https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/sundayextra/katherine-ryan-youre-so-weird/6401176)
5. [Katherine Ryan on a lifelong love of comedy, CityNews Vancouver](https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2019/01/21/katherine-ryan-on-a-lifelong-love-of-comedy-i-knew-it-could-get-me-out-of-trouble/)
6. [Katherine Ryan: your questions answered, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/may/09/katherine-ryan-webchat-post-your-questions-now)
7. [Katherine Ryan: Glitter Room, Netflix Media Center](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/80238020)
8. [Katherine Ryan interview: the comic talks Edinburgh, her BBC series 'Hair' and gender balance on panel shows, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/katherine-ryan-interview-the-comic-talks-edinburgh-her-bbc-series-hair-and-gender-balance-on-panel-shows-10381439.html)
9. [Katherine Ryan official Linktree](https://linktr.ee/kathbum)
10. ['It's almost over for me': Katherine Ryan stunned by shocking biological age result, woman&home](https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/katherine-ryan-biological-age-shock/)
11. ['I love money!': Katherine Ryan on success, feminism, bad reviews and ballsiness, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/jan/06/i-love-money-katherine-ryan-on-success-feminism-bad-reviews-ballsiness)
12. [Comedian Had 'Serious' Cosmetic Surgery Just Weeks After Giving Birth, The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/comedian-katherine-ryan-had-serious-cosmetic-surgery-weeks-after-giving-birth/)
13. [Katherine Ryan: 'Men are like dolphins – best enjoyed on holiday!', The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jul/03/katherine-ryan-interview-comedy-single-mum-glitter-room)
14. [Katherine Ryan interview – Stand Up Central, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/stand_up_central/interviews/katherine_ryan/)
15. [Katherine Ryan: Little Miss Conception, Chortle](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2011/08/08/28348/katherine_ryan%3A_little_miss_conception)
16. [Katherine Ryan: Glam Role Model, Stand V, comedy review, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/edinburgh-festival/katherine-ryan-glam-role-model-stand-v-comedy-review-9642284.html)
17. [Katherine Ryan, Edinburgh Fringe review: a tight, flawless show of celebrity-bashing, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/edinburgh-festival/katherine-ryan-edinburgh-fringe-review-a-tight-flawless-show-of-celebritybashing-10453318.html)
18. [Katherine Ryan: Edinburgh fringe review – gossip comedy gets gasps and laughs, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/aug/13/katherine-ryan-edinburgh-review-stand-comedy-club)
19. [Katherine Ryan: Glitter Room on Netflix, Chortle](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2019/07/02/43452/katherine_ryan%3A_glitter_room_on_netflix)
20. [How Katherine Ryan's caustic brand of comedy was shaped by Irish craic, Irish Independent](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/how-katherine-ryans-caustic-brand-of-comedy-was-shaped-by-irish-craic/41744004.html)
21. [The best podcasts to keep you entertained, The Week](https://theweek.com/culture-life/tv-radio/best-podcasts)
22. [Katherine Ryan Biography – Facts, Childhood & Achievements, The Famous People](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/katherine-ryan-16086.php)
23. [Katherine Ryan review – softer, more sympathetic but just as razor sharp, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/apr/03/katherine-ryan-review-softer-more-sympathetic-but-just-as-razor-sharp)
24. [Katherine Ryan just gave a refreshingly honest take on her post-pregnancy facelift, woman&home](https://www.womanandhome.com/beauty/beauty-news/katherine-ryan-honest-take-post-pregnancy-facelift/)
25. [Katherine Ryan: 'It's always disarming for people that I just say what I think', The Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio/2025/03/08/katherine-ryan-its-always-disarming-for-people-that-i-just-say-what-i-think/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Stand-up comedy and comedians › British and Irish comedians*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license