Katherine Ryan was confronted by the mother of her daughter’s bully after calling out the child

Katherine Ryan reveals she had to apologise to the mother of her daughter’s ‘bully’ after calling out the child’s full name while ‘slagging him off’ on a popular podcast

  • Katherine Ryan, 38, who lives in Hertfordshire, is a comedian and mum of two 
  • She was on Mel Giedroyc’s Unforgivable show where celebs reveal their regrets 
  • The comedian said she shouldn’t have called out her daughter’s bully publicly 
  •  After sharing the name, she was confronted by the boy’s mum at school


Katherine Ryan has revealed that one of her biggest regrets is publicly calling out a boy she says was bullying her daughter – which resulted in a playground confrontation with his mum.

The comedian, 38, who makes regular appearances on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, made the comments during a recent episode of Mel Giedroyc’s Unforgivable – in show in which celebrities air their biggest regrets.

Mother-of-two Katherine, whose daughter Violet is 12, and son Freddy is eight months, described how she got herself in hot water after calling out a boy who bullying her older child.

According to the comic, who is originally from Canada but now lives in Hertfordshire with her husband Bobby Kootstra and her two children, she ‘slagged off’ the boy during an appearance on comedian Richard Herring’s podcast. 

Katherine admitted she shouldn’t have shared the name publicly, and revealed that she had apologised to the boy’s mother who confronted her about it in the playground. 

Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan, pictured with husband Bobby Kootstra and her two children Violet, 12, and baby Freddy

According to the mum-of-two, pictured with daughter Violet, she once publicly called out a boy who she says was bullying her daughter

Discussing the situation, she said she ‘thought it was a funny angle to bully these children’ during her stand-up routines, as she sees surprise as a major component of comedy. 

‘It’s very surprising to have a sweet-looking, young single mom slagging off a bunch of toddlers,’ she explained.

She added that during the podcast, she described the boy as bullying her daughter ‘quite aggressively’.  

‘I can slag this kid off, if his parents don’t like it, they can maybe sort the bullying out and give my child a good day at school,’ she said.  

According to Katherine, who said she hadn’t realised how many people listen to Richard Herring’s podcast, she shared these details during the interview, using the boy’s full name.

And this did not go unnoticed: after the episode was released, she was confronted by the boy’s mother in the playground.

The mother reportedly said: ‘Well you’ve certainly immortalised that story by telling it on Richard Herring’s podcast.’

In another recent controversial move, the comic made headlines after taking to Instagram to reveal that Freddy is already potty trained at just eight months of age – much earlier than the 18-24 months at which children are usually potty trained. 

Mother-of-two Katherine faced more controversy recently, after revealing on Instagram that her son Freddy (pictured) is already potty trained at the tender age of eight months

Mother-of-two Katherine faced more controversy recently, after revealing on Instagram that her son Freddy (pictured) is already potty trained at the tender age of eight months

Katherine explained that she knew she would get backlash for discussing her potty training ethos, but said babies can learn to use the potty before they learn to 'go in nappies'

Katherine explained that she knew she would get backlash for discussing her potty training ethos, but said babies can learn to use the potty before they learn to ‘go in nappies’

Katherine explained that she used the same technique that she used on her daughter Violet, now 12.

Anticipating negative comments, she wrote: ‘I hate to even write this because I know I’ll get backlash but for those who know about my potty training ethos and success with baby Violet… 

‘Fred reliably wees on the potty at under eight months and we can count the amount of 2022 soiled nappies on one hand. 

‘I didn’t know whether it would work with Fred. It does. Potty train babies before they learn to go in nappies!!! They can do it!’

This isn’t the first time she has spoken out about her potty training beliefs: she previously explained how she trained Violet as a baby, telling NME: ‘My daughter wore standard nappies as a newborn. But when she started on solid foods, I could see in her face when she needed to poop.

‘I’d whip her onto the potty as quickly as possible, then celebrate after she’d been. In addition, she’d be rewarded with about an hour of nappyless nudity. Bliss.’