Katherine Ryan has said she loves Lady Victoria Beckham after an “offensive” comment she made about her on Have I Got News For You resulted in viewer complaints.
The BBC upheld a complaint made by two viewers over an episode of the show hosted by Ryan on November 7 where she made reference to a 2013 private email sent by Sir David Beckham where he allegedly used the c-word.
Comment edited from iPlayer
Ryan said on the show: “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.”
In its ruling, the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) stated: “There was no such justification for a comment which presented Victoria Beckham as equivalent to a particularly offensive word.”
They have also edited out the comment from the episode currently available on iPlayer.
Ryan's response
Ryan shared a video message, saying: “Today the BBC announced their decision to uphold a complaint made by two very influential viewers about a joke that I tried to make on an episode of Have I Got News For You.
“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?”
Matrescence refers to the physical and psychological change that occurs when a woman becomes a mother.
Ryan had her youngest child, a daughter named Holland, in October 2025 with her partner Bobby Kootstra. She is also mother to Fred, five, and Fenna, three, with Kootstra and Violet, 16, with a former partner.
BBC ruling
The comedian 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.
“If I had called Jimmy Carr a c***, he wouldn’t have minded.
“Joanne McNally, c***, she wouldn’t have minded.
“But this was described by the BBC as a slur, as though c**** are part of a protected group.
“If you watched it on the day, it was clearly a joke and the whole audience went (gasp) and then I said, ‘woah, I love her’.”
The ECU ruled the panel’s use of the word c*** was justified as it was in reference to Sir David’s alleged use of it, but it was not justifiable when used in reference to his wife.
It added: “The relevant BBC editorial guidelines do not require programmes to avoid giving offence but do require that any offence should be editorially justified.”
