Katherine Ryan on jokes about her marriage and plastic surgery: 'I don't care if I'm the punchline'
Katherine Ryan has said she doesn't mind making her marriage and appearance the punchline of jokes because she doesn't want to "spoil people's fun".
The Canadian comedian is the latest star to be interviewed by Louis Theroux for his BBC Two series and she explains why she is fine with making herself the butt of the joke with audiences.
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Speaking to Theroux at her luxurious London home complete with swimming pool and large garden in the episode due to air tonight, Ryan, 36, talks about her happy marriage to high school boyfriend Bobby Kootstra who she had lost touch with, but got back together with in 2019 while visiting Canada for her episode of Who Do You Think You Are?.
Ryan says: "I got a lot of people holding out for the divorce, they want to see this end badly for me. Just people online. They'll be like, 'you'll have egg on your face'."
Theroux asks her about a joke in her stand-up routine where she says Kootstra feel in love with her after seeing her house.
She says: "And I say that because that's what people want me to say. They want me to be aware that he might be using me for money. But in reality, when he came to London, I hadn't bought the house, I lived in a flat."
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Ryan adds: "It's fun for people, I don't want to spoil their fun. Like, if it's fun for people to believe that Bobby's only using me for money and I've had loads of plastic surgery and this and that, then that's great that I know that and can use that because my job is to make them laugh.
"I don't care if I'm the punchline at all. At all. Because I get to live here, and I have the pool...I don't understand being precious about that stuff."
However, she says that her lack of worry about what other people think of her has got her into trouble when making jokes about other celebrities.
She says: "That gets me in trouble sometimes because I'll assume that everyone feels that way. I don't want to hurt people's feelings, I forget that people have feelings I don't.
"If someone had a really good joke about me, I'd love it.
"It's my preference that people like me, but if they don't, I really don't mind."
Louis Theroux Interviews Katherine Ryan airs tonight at 9pm on BBC Two.
