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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nKatherine Ryan has revealed that she used to be reluctant to return to her native Canada due to her \u201cshame\u201d over being a single parent.<\/p>\n
The stand-up comedian moved to Britain in 2008 alongside her then-boyfriend, with both eager to make it on the comedy scene. The pair had a baby, Violet, in 2010, before they split up. Ryan has not publicly confirmed the identity of Violet\u2019s father.<\/p>\n
In a new interview with The Guardian<\/em>, Ryan said that after splitting from her boyfriend, she decided to try and make it on her own in London.<\/p>\n\u201cI didn\u2019t mess around, I didn\u2019t stay out for drinks, I didn\u2019t have flatmates,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI\u2019d had a youth already \u2013 I didn\u2019t take drugs or do anything too wild back in Canada, but I went to the Playboy Mansion, I got to be a podium dancer, I got to work at Hooters, we had fake IDs at 14, we were having bush parties. I\u2019d done all that. By the time I was in London, I thought: \u2018Now let\u2019s get serious.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
But while she was happy to be a single parent in London, she was nervous to return to her hometown of Sarnia, Ontario, as one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really felt shame about it,\u201d she said. \u201cThere was this sense that I had chosen badly; in heteronormative relationships, women are the gatekeepers of who gets to be a father.\u201d<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Comedian Katherine Ryan in 2025 (Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nToday, Ryan is in a civil partnership with her high school sweetheart Bobby Kootstra, with whom she shares two additional children, Fred and Fenna.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I think there\u2019s another life where I haven\u2019t done that, and it\u2019s still just Violet and me, chic, cosmopolitan, portable,\u201d she joked. \u201cBut we can\u2019t fully escape where we came from, it turns out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, Ryan clarified reports that she had been diagnosed with cancer for the second time, confirming on Instagram that she\u2019d merely paid for a mole to be removed from her arm \u2013 later tests proved that the mole was early stage melanoma, which is a form of skin cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe melanoma thing from my podcast got picked up [by the media] with added commentary like \u2018takes a swipe at the NHS,\u2019\u201d she began. \u201cIt\u2019s all fine, it\u2019s not a big deal, so don\u2019t stress. And one more thing, it\u2019s not a battle. There\u2019s no battle. The battle is done. I had a mole removed. It came back melanoma, very early melanoma, it\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryan was previously diagnosed with Stage 2 skin cancer in 2004, but has said it wasn\u2019t \u201cthat serious\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t into my lymph nodes, I didn\u2019t have to have chemotherapy,\u201d she said. \u201cIt did recur, but it was easily dealt with. I feel like I was really lucky just to get that lesson, that little smack on the arse of \u2018Hey, wait a minute. Listen to your body, here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Ryan with her civil partner, Bobby Kootstra (Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nIn November, Ryan laughed off a series of complaints made by BBC viewers over a foul-mouthed joke made by Ryan and fellow comedian Maisie Adam during an episode of Have I Got News for You<\/em>.<\/p>\nThe joke, which involved David Beckham and King Charles, was met with condemnation from some people watching at home. \u201cUnacceptable,\u201d one person tweeted. \u201cThis is a recorded programme, so who at the BBC felt it was OK not to cut or bleep it out?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Katherine Ryan has revealed that she used to be reluctant to return to her native Canada due to her \u201cshame\u201d over being a single parent. The stand-up comedian moved to Britain in 2008 alongside her then-boyfriend, with both eager to make it on the comedy scene. The pair had a baby, Violet, in 2010, before they split up. Ryan has not publicly confirmed the identity of Violet\u2019s father. In a new interview with The Guardian, Ryan said that after splitting from her boyfriend, she decided to try and make it on her own in London. \u201cI didn\u2019t mess around, I didn\u2019t stay out for drinks, I didn\u2019t have flatmates,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI\u2019d had a youth already \u2013 I didn\u2019t take drugs or do anything too wild back in Canada, but I went to the Playboy Mansion, I got to be a podium dancer, I got to work at Hooters, we had fake IDs at 14, we were having bush parties. I\u2019d done all that. By the time I was in London, I thought: \u2018Now let\u2019s get serious.\u2019\u201d But while she was happy to be a single parent in London, she was nervous to return to her hometow…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10392"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}