Katherine Ryan - Battleaxe

Born and raised in a small town in Ontario, Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan found comedy stardom after she relocated to London. Finding kindred spirits on the capital's stand-up scene helped the former Hooters staff trainer (Ryan claimed she was fired for writing "club sandwiches not seals" on a specials board) hone her voice and progress from open mic nights to eventually becoming a familiar face on panel shows and a team captain on 8 Out Of 10 Cats.

Ryan proved herself to be something of a spiritual successor to the late Joan Rivers, due to her fondness for caustic put-downs and willingness to venture into dangerous territory in pursuit of a joke. These traits also earned her a spot alongside the similarly minded Jimmy Carr on Channel 4’s Your Face Or Mine and Netflix panel show The Fix.

By 2019, Ryan had cemented a productive partnership with the streaming giant, including two well received comedy specials, Glitter Room and In Trouble. An appearance on Who Do You Think You Are? led to a trip home to Canada and a reconnection with her childhood sweetheart, who she later married in 2019. That same year, Katherine Ryan toured the UK for a second time.

In 2020, Netflix released the sitcom The Duchess, written by and starring Ryan as a single mother in London. Ryan has said the series is a heightened version of her own life story, particularly in her portrayal of a single mother in a foreign city.

In late 2020, Katherine Ryan announced her Missus UK tour, which eventually ended its sell-out international run in 2022 - the same year she hosted her own six-part global flagship series for Amazon Prime: Backstage With Katherine Ryan. She has also hosted two series of the hit primetime BBC Two jewelry-making competition series All That Glitters.

In 2023, Ryan starred in the Sky Original comedy series, Romantic Getaway, with Romesh Ranganathan, as well as The Lionesses: A League of Their Own special with Jill Scott and Maisie Adam. She also surprised everyone with her performance on The Masked Singer as the much loved Pigeon, and hosted UKTV’s hugely popular new series Parental Guidance.

Ryan announced her return to the stage in 2024 with a brand-new UK and European tour, Battleaxe.