Pride Of Britain: Katherine Ryan opens up about lockdown
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Katherine Ryan, 38, appeared on Mock of the Week between 2012 and 2015, leaving the show to give room for more female comedians. In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk the TV personality admitted her leave from the show had been “articulated as a boycott” and it wasn’t like that.
It has been articulated as a boycott.
Katherine Ryan
Since Mock of the Week began in 2005, it has featured numerous female comedians including Jo Brand and Sarah Millican.
However, it was not until 2017 that two women were featured on the six-person panel at the same time.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Katherine explained her decision to leave the show.
She said: “It has been articulated as a boycott. I think that was the word and I certainly didn’t do that.
“I love Mock of the Week and I’m a huge fan and I am a huge fan of Dara Ó Briain specifically and I think Mock of the Week is a phenomenal vehicle for getting new comedians noticed.
She continued: “It really helps direct people to come see me really and really opens the door for people to know about you and I love, love, love working on that show.
“I love the producers but there came a point in my career where I had to be careful I wasn’t being too selfish and taking all those bookings for myself.”
She went on: “Because at the time they only booked one comedian that was female-identifying each episode.
“Only one, it was never two, ever. I knew that if I was in that chair, then one of my peers who was a woman would not be in the chair.
“I benefited already so much from Mock of the Week and I had wonderful experiences and made great friends but people were starting to come see me on tour.
“So it wasn’t a boycott so much as it was just me getting out the way.”
Since leaving Mock of the Week, Katherine’s career has gone from strength to strength including her own Netflix comedy The Duchess.
She is now recovering from Covid after contracting the virus in lockdown and has partnered with Gousto to help regain her taste and smell.
Katherine said: “My husband noticed first that we couldn’t smell and I thought he was wrong.
“I ran around collecting different things in the house to prove him wrong, but I couldn’t smell anything.
“I hadn’t realised because I could still taste but on reflection, the whole flavour experience when losing smell is really different.
“To hear that Gousto has partnered with AbScent to offer free kits to help people unlock flavour again is great.”
Katherine then talked about the “impact” Gousto has had on her and her family, especially in lockdown.
She said: “I mean, it has had such an impact on my family’s mealtime and cooking and really enhanced our flavours.
“I know a lot of people feel quite sad and powerless about losing their smell and taste.
“And that’s not what you know as a comedian. I always want to bring joy and variety to people’s lives.”
Katherine has teamed up with recipe box Gousto to launch limited-edition ‘Flavour Saviour’ kits, designed with AbScent to help re-train lost sense of smell and bring back the joy of flavour. Visit flavour-saviour.co.uk from March 14 to order a free kit
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