Katherine Ryan has revealed that Victoria Beckham contacted her after the Spice Girl was offended by the comedian's comments on Have I Got News For You, prompting an unreserved apology.
The 43-year-old comedian said she replied to Beckham, 52, following her 'stupid joke' on the BBC panel show in 2025. The BBC upheld complaints about Ryan after she used an obscene term to mock the fashion designer.
Ryan's apology to Beckham
Speaking to Heat magazine, Ryan said: "If Victoria had seen the broadcast she would have known it was tongue-in-cheek. I never actually used the C-word, I was being cheeky while trying to wrap up a segment."
She continued: "But Victoria reached out to me as soon as it happened and said she was offended. I unreservedly apologised and said 'I love you and I'm really sorry. This is just how I am and I certainly didn't mean to hurt any feelings'."
Ryan added: "That's the last I heard from her and I haven't reached out to Victoria since. I think you should say sorry once, and leave it at that. Maybe we can patch things up one day."
Public apology and BBC investigation
Ryan also apologised to Beckham publicly via Instagram last month, saying: "I'm really sorry, sometimes the jokes don't land."
In the video, she appeared to justify her actions by blaming matrescence - the deep physical, emotional, and psychological process of becoming a mother - explaining that she had returned to work just 10 days after daughter Holland was born.
She said: "At that time, though there is no defence, I was suffering from a condition called matrescence. I was in that building with a 10-day-old baby. Should I have left the house?"
She added: "This is gonna be a tough one for the feminists because I was a woman going to work but I did call another woman a C. Sometimes I forget that celebrities are not my friends."
The BBC upheld complaints against Ryan by two viewers who said the 'obscene term' was 'gratuitously offensive'. The original episode of Have I Got News for You was edited for iPlayer to remove the joke entirely.
The episode, which initially aired on 7 November 2025, mentioned an email allegedly sent by Sir David Beckham where the C-word was used.
Speaking to the panellists, host Ryan said: "I don't know that we are allowed to broadcast the C-word, but you did reference Victoria Beckham earlier and we'll allow that."
At the time, the BBC's Executive Complaints Unit responded to complaints saying the use of the strong language was 'editorially justified' as the panellists were 'directly quoting from leaked emails', adding it was 'never' their intention to offend the audience.
However, following an almost year-long investigation, the ECU performed a U-turn and upheld the complaints.
