Katherine Ryan appeared to see the funny side on Monday morning after sparking outrage while hosting the latest installment of Have I Got News For You?
The Canadian star prompted inevitable backlash from viewers of the long-running BBC panel show by repeatedly using the C word while referring to Sir David Beckham’s recent investiture.Â
Ryan, 42, was hosting Friday’s show when she referred to leaked emails sent by Beckham to his publicist expressing outrage at missing out on a knighthood in 2013, in which he notoriously referred to the honours committee as ‘a bunch of c**ts.’Â
Panellist Masie Adam continued the expletive-ridden section of the pre-recorded show by suggesting ‘It would have been nice, and maybe poetic if Charles had got his own back knighting him and going ,”Arise you c**t.”‘
In a subsequent joke that led to complaints about BBC standards being posted on social media, Ryan added: ‘I don’t know if we are allowed to broadcast the “C-word”, but you did reference Victoria Beckham earlier …and we’ll allow that.’
The incident created another headache for the beleaguered BBC, currently in the midst of a leadership crisis and mounting political pressure after Director-General Tim Davie and news chief Deborah Turness both quit over the suggestive editing of a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Katherine Ryan appeared to see the funny side on Monday morning after sparking outrage while hosting the latest installment of Have I Got News For You?Â
The Canadian star prompted inevitable backlash from viewers of the long-running BBC panel show by repeatedly using the C word while referring to Sir David Beckham ‘s recent investiture
But Ryan was in a buoyant mood while reposing an article about her presenting controversy for Instagram followers on Monday.Â
Captioning a screenshot of the the recent headline, she joked: ‘And that was just my intro! Catch up on this week’s @haveigotnews @bbciplayer.’
With a faction of the studio audience apparently shocked by the tone of Ryan’s remark about Lady Beckham, the host added: ‘I like her really … I didn’t expect that reaction.’
Viewers reacted angrily to the repeated use of the C word on the show, and others objected to it being used as a slur.
One wrote: ‘Unacceptable broadcasting of the “C” word. This is a recorded programme, so who at the BBC felt it was ok not to cut or bleep it out? Really disappointing.’
Another called for Ryan to be axed, saying: ‘The same BBC that allows the C word to be broadcast during #hignfy, once in connection with Victoria Beckham. Katherine Ryan should be suspended’.
A third wrote: ‘Something very odd and jarring about hearing the c word (c**t) on Have I Got News for You.’
Another X user fumed: ‘Heads should roll for allowing the C word to be broadcast at least twice during #hignfy.’
Ryan was hosting Friday’s show when she referred to leaked emails sent by Beckham to his publicist expressing outrage at missing out on a knighthood in 2013
Masie Adam (left) continued the joke by suggesting ‘It would have been nice, and maybe poetic if Charles had got his own back knighting him and going ,”Arise you c**t”‘Â
Others asked why it was acceptable for presenters on the show to repeatedly air the ‘C-word’ while a BBC News Channel presenter Martine Croxall was last week reprimanded over claims her ‘facial expression’ showed a personal view as she referenced ‘pregnant people’ before changing the script herself to ‘pregnant women’.
The latest edition of Have I Got News for You also saw Ryan reveal to presenter Ian Hislop that she had only given birth two and a half weeks ago. Â
Ryan has three other children – son Fred, three, and daughter Fenna, two, with husband Bobby Koostra, and is a mother to 15-year-old Violet from a previous relationship.
Speaking on Davina McCall’s Begin Again podcast, which was recorded while still heavily pregnant, the Canadian star said she’d been branded ‘privileged’ after offering advice to other new mums, especially when it comes to potty training.
In a subsequent joke that led to complaints about BBC standards being posted on social media, Ryan also commented on Sir David’s wife, Lady Beckham
But Ryan was in a buoyant mood while reposing an article about her presenting controversy for Instagram followers on Monday (pictured)Â
After previously revealing her son Fred was out of nappies by eight-months, she said: ‘I say that you should start potty training babies from almost birth. And when I say potty training, I think it gets lost in translation.’
‘People go: “What do you mean?” And they get mad right away because they feel like: “Well, because I’ve got a three-year-old in a nappie, you’re saying that’s my fault and I’m negligent and I don’t love my child”. I just think there’s a miscommunication.’
The mum-of-four went on to explain that she believed ‘well-meaning, very loving parents’ didn’t realise they were in fact training their newborns to use a nappy.
‘If you take the nappy off at regular intervals and you put them, you hold them on a potty, you’re training them to go in the potty.’
