Katherine Ryan: ‘No one has tried anything weird with me because I’m probably very scary’

Katherine Ryan explained why she thought no one had ‘tried anything weird’ with her.

The comedian, 41, has been unafraid to call out sexual predators in the comedy world.

Famously in a 2022 interview with Louis Theroux, Katherine claimed that the identity of a sexual assault predator is an open industry secret.

She has been praised for speaking out about the ‘dangerous’ comic working in the industry and was recently asked about calling out sexual predators in a recent interview.

‘No one has tried anything weird with me because I’m probably very scary. I’m aware that by saying that I could be seen to be victim blaming, so I want to make it clear that I’m not saying someone else has received poor treatment because they’ve got “the wrong energy”.

‘I’ve been lucky, in part, I think, because of the guys I came up with – Joe Lycett, Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan are just really, really good guys,’ she told Good Housekeeping in an interview.

She added that while she may not have had bad experiences with comics, male audience members were frequently ‘weird’.

‘When I started doing television, male audience members could be weird with me. I had this following of very strange lone-wolf men…Before I had a tour manager, they’d follow me on to the train and keep talking to me.

‘I was trying to be polite and create a boundary, but some of those interactions were scary,’ she said.

She also reflected on her journey with motherhood. The Canadian star, 41, is a mum to Violet, 15, Fred, three, and Fenna, one.

‘I’ve always felt really empowered as a mother. The only time I’ve felt shame around being a mother was when I was a single mother in a foreign country because I was financially insecure and had a failed relationship.

‘Note how we tend to use the word ‘failed’ when, in fact, leaving him was very successful,’ she added.

In the interview, Katherine also spoke about the importance of women overcoming ‘shame’.

‘We still don’t talk openly enough. Shame is a big part of navigating life as a woman. I feel very safe when strangers are vulnerable with me. When I share, it prompts people to share with me.’

She then referenced an interview in November when she revealed her fears about getting pregnant again after three miscarriages in five years.

‘When I spoke about the two miscarriages I had before Fred came along, I got so many messages. The decision to talk about that was, by the way, conscious. I felt very alone and full of shame. And shame is not an emotion I’m used to,’ she said.

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