Comedian Katherine Ryan has revealed that Victoria Beckham personally contacted her after a joke made on Have I Got News For You in November 2025, prompting an unreserved apology from the 43-year-old.
Fallout from the joke
Katherine was appearing on the BBC programme when she made a comment about the former Spice Girl during a segment in which panellists discussed a leaked email in which Victoria's husband David had reportedly used the C-word.
In response, Katherine 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."
Following the remark, viewers lodged complaints with the BBC, and the corporation upheld a complaint after viewers alleged the "obscene term" had been "gratuitously offensive". The joke was removed from the episode transmitted on November 7, 2025.
Katherine's apology and explanation
Katherine has since addressed the incident via social media, a magazine feature, and a direct approach to Victoria. In an Instagram post, she said: "I'm really sorry, sometimes the jokes don't land. 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? 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."
Matrescence is a term coined by anthropologist Dana Raphael in the 1970s and describes the process of becoming a mother. Katherine had just given birth to her fourth child when the episode was broadcast.
Direct contact from Victoria
Speaking to Heat magazine, Katherine 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."
However, Katherine disclosed that the singer had contacted her personally to express her upset, before Katherine issued an unreserved apology. She added: "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'."
The comedian confirmed that this was the last time she had heard from the former Spice Girl, with the pair yet to speak since. She shared her desire that she and Victoria could "patch things up one day".
