Katherine Ryan opens up on wedding joy after second skin cancer diagnosis

Katherine Ryan is gearing up for a happy event this summer as she's announced a member of her family will tie the knot - but the comedian is fully expecting to ruin the ceremony.

Starring in U's new comedy show, Silence is Golden, Katherine Ryan joins Dermot O'Leary, Strictly star Seann Walsh and Fatiha El Ghorri - and they're all backed by a rotating door of performers ranging from the mainstream to the bizarre.

“We had to keep hitting them with something new, we were almost out for blood,” says Katherine. “We tried everything - pyrotechnics, snakes, spiders, even nudity.” Some acts were more unusual than others. “There was a baby race,” she adds. “That was amazing.”

The goal? Any reaction. “It’s not just about making them laugh,” Seann says, “It’s about getting any kind of reaction, whether it’s shock, fear, sadness. Anything to get that noise.”

Chaos kicked off as the minutes ticked on. “People went crazy,” Seann remembers, “One guy started taking 20 quid a pop. He’d make a noise, there was a score. Another noise, there’s another score. That’s how bad it got.” This inevitably led some contestants to turn on one another. “We didn’t see that coming,” says Seann, “They were screaming at each other.”

And then there was the final round - a crescendo of tension. “Everything rests on that final round,” Katherine adds, “So they’re under a lot of pressure and we all relied on that.”

She reveals her strategy was to zone in on groups and couples - especially the ones with history. “I was flirtatious at one point, I tried to destabilise relationships,” she says.

“I have that kind of relationship with my sister - I can’t do anything serious with her. My middle sister is getting married in August and I know we’ll be laughing because we’re bullies. That’s what we had to bank on for Silence Is Golden.”

In March, 2025, Katherine took to social media to announce she'd had a cancerous mole removed after being diagnosed with skin cancer for a second time. She was first diagnosed with stage two melanoma in her 20s, after finding an irregular mole on her leg, which was also removed down the line.

Later on, on her podcast, Telling Everybody Everything, Katherine assured her fans she was out of danger. "It’s not a battle. There’s no battle. The battle is done. I had a mole removed," she said at the time. "It came back melanoma, very early melanoma, it’s fine."

Now on Silence is Golden, Katherine and her team of performers go above and beyond to get a reaction. But the lack of response eventually took a toll. “It’s traumatic, we’re used to people laughing,” says Seann. “Instead, the audience is just staring at us and it looks like hatred.” Katherine jokingly echoes the sentiment. “I have PTSD from the experience,” she says.

The only refuge came from the green room, which became a tight-knit basecamp for cast and crew. “It was buzzing,” says Katherine, “We had snacks and drinks. As captains, we were also trying to keep everyone in the best atmosphere possible, though we knew what we were sending them into.”

Sean adds: “It turned into a crowd at a football match. We were really rooting for everyone going out there because we all know how tough it is.”

Seann, on the other hand, was more direct in his approach and took inspiration from Jim Carrey’s Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber. “I had a scene from Dumb and Dumber in my head,” he says, “So I screamed in someone’s face. We go to desperate measures.”

Now back on safer comedic turf, Seann says: “I was very happy to go back to audiences that weren’t being paid a quarter of a million pounds to not laugh.”

But he remains grateful to work with Katherine, with whom he shares a surprising past. “We entered the same competition years ago,” he says, “We came joint runner ups but I gave my award away.”

Katherine also praises her teammates, especially Fatiha. “She’s so funny,” she says, “I was completely sold when they told me what the show would involve. I knew it’d be something special.”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.