Extremely witty British comedy drama The Duchess has been on Netflix for quite a time already.
The plot follows a stylish and sarcastic single mother named Katherine. Actress Katherine
Ryan who plays the lead role on the show thinks that a lot of people might find her character
(quote) "very unlikable", and the series star actually enjoys this fact. Her character refuses
to meet the expectations and responsibilities imposed by society and preferts to do things
in her own way.
Ryan, who is a Canadian stand-up comedian, created the show herself and it is actually
half-autobiographical, showing some personal issues the series star had to deal with.
However, if you dig deeper into the life of the actress, you will find so much more that
will leave you speechless. This powerful 37-year-old woman has been through two bouts of cancer,
she took her newborn baby on stage (be sure we will explain the whole thing in a few minutes),
she advocated for being single her whole life and then reunited with her high school love
after 20 years (we will explain what happened next, too). So you just stay with us to learn
a true Hollywood-like story of The Duchess star, Katerine Ryan. But before we continue,
subscribe to Rumour Juice Youtube channel for more exciting celebrity stories.
When Ryan was a teenager, her parents separated. At the age of 18 she decided to leave home
and study at the University of Toronto. To make a living, she also worked at a restaurant
chain Hooters, which turned out to be quite a challenging period in her life.
“It’s not perhaps aspirational, as a feminist, to get a job where you are decoration, but
there are very many bars where the waitresses wear little skimpy outfits and, with Hooters,
I always felt it was satirical.”
She would eventually be fired for kind of a weird reason. At one point she had been
working for Hooters long enough that she was training other waitresses, but when she wrote
‘Club sandwiches, not seals’ on the lunch board, the management decided it was time
for her to leave.
If you didn't get it, it is probably because you are not a Canadian. The thing is that
seal clubbing was a sensitive political issue in Canada at the time, and one of the patrons,
a fisherman, didn’t like the special of the day and complained to the manager.
It was during the time of her work in Hooters, though, when one of Ryan's colleagues noticed
a mole on her leg that she described as funny.
“I was like, ‘Naah, it’s fine.’ I just didn’t think twice about it. In retrospect,
it didn’t even look that strange, just a bit discoloured, but I think your body has
a way of warning you when things aren’t right."
So, she didn't pay much attention to the mole, but went to a dermatologist with a rash on
her chest, which for the 21-year-old was a cosmetic issue.
After receiving some ointment for the rash and almost leaving the doctor's office, she
decided to show him that very mole, which the dermatologist didn't find funny at all.
The 21-year-old was surprised when a biopsy revealed stage 2 melanoma. However, she was
not scared at the time. Probably, it was due to her young age that made her feel invincible.
Then she rang to tell her parents and her dad started crying. That's when she realized
how serious the issue was.
“He lost his father to cancer, and there was Stage 4 melanoma, which is tough to beat,
on my mum’s side of the family. That kind of brought things home to me.”
Ryan now has a sizeable scar on her thigh where a chunk of flesh was removed. According
to Ryan, it is a reminder of good fortune, that she didn't even have to undergo chemo,
just the surgery. Still, it did recur and again was easily dealt with.
Oftentimes, the comedian is frowned upon when she jokes about her experience with cancer.
Ryan believes that laughing in the face of the most feared disease is an affirmative
action.
"I’d joke about it now and then, because that’s what I do; that’s how I make loads
of things better. I like to find light in the dark."
Already in her mid 20s, she started working actively as a comedian, as well as appearing
in numerous television series in the UK where she moved. Also around that time she gave
birth to her daughter Violet from her previous relationship.
Ryan recalls strapping her 3-week-old baby girl on to her chest and taking to the stage
in Suffolk. The gig boosted the comedian's confidence and enabled her to quit her office
job and pursue a comedy career full-time.
In her own experience, she is sure there is a certain sense of judgment around single
motherhood, even within showbusiness, where she says she’s constantly asked, “Who’s
watching your daughter?”. By the way, if you were attentive while watching The Duchess,
you remember this line from one of the episodes, when Ryan's character is asked exactly the
same question.
The comedian wonders why, when people talk about single dads, the whole thing becomes
sexy all of a sudden, but if you’re a single mum - there’s still a stigma.
She lived together with her daughter, just the two of them, for a long time until recently,
when Ryan had a chance encounter with her teenage love, Bobby Kootstra. They used to
date when they were 15. She joked in on of her interviews:
"His name is Bobby and we were together when I was 15 or 16 and then we got back together
20 years later. Isn't that pathetic??"
In December 2019, she entered a civil partnership with Bobby in a low-key ceremony in Denmark.
Ryan's daughter was initially against the whole idea of someone new entering the family
after so long. But luckily, things worked out for everyone.
After she started dating Bobby, Ryan felt conflicted about the whole story, minding
her ongoing projects and what she promoted through them. In one of her specials she said
she was not going to have a boyfriend until she is in her 60s. Thus, she felt as if she
was abandoning people somehow.
"I’ve spent all this time talking to women who feel there is this culture that’s like,
‘She has all these cats and she says she doesn’t want a boyfriend but she’s lying,
she’s incomplete.’ I hate that, because I felt very happy and very complete.”
Another point that deserves an honourable mention to prove that Katherine is a true
feminist, is her attitude towards cosmetic procedures. The stunning blonde is open about
her experiments, including botox and fillers. However, she is concerned about young people
who might be choosing unreliable places for such procedures.
“Some people will pierce holes, some people will have implants – it’s no one else’s
business what you do to your body. But I do worry about a generation of younger people
going to dodgy places and not having the correct information."
Despite being a powerful woman, Ryan still sometimes feels the pressure of the society.
Earlier this years she had a miscarriage following 10 weeks of pregnancy, which according to
the actress made her feel "embarrassed and shameful". Ryan is sure women deserve to have
more information about this harrowing experience and stop keeping it a secret.
Despite being devastated over losing a baby, Ryan carried on working, putting a smile on
her face so that no one could see her pain.
"You think you did something wrong but you keep it to yourself."
By the way, again like her character on The Duchess, Katherine considered a sperm donor
before she reunited with her high school love. Being a strong independent woman, she was
totally ready for another child. Who said you need a man to have a kid, after all? But
you know, as they always say: you'll find love when you're not looking for it. Looks
like it is exactly what happened with Ryan.
By the way, a huge chunk of Ryan's comedy is actually dedicated to mocking men. One
of the punch lines from her special goes as follows: “Men are like dolphins – best
enjoyed on holiday.”
Before we finish, a fun fact about The Duchess. Although Ryan was the one who wrote a sex
scene for the show, she realized that writing it was soooo much different from actually
filming it. The actress has confessed she almost backed out at the last minute. She
was standing behind the door and counting how much money she will lose after running
away. The amount turned out to be HUUUGE, so she went into the room and did the scene.
"And I thought before I did it, 'Oh, acting's fine. You just pretend'...And I was wrong.
It's actually really hard, and it can be a little bit embarrassing."
That's all
for today!