Inside Katherine Ryan’s private life with husband Bobby Kootstra, children and skin cancer diagnosis

Inside Katherine Ryan and Bobby Kootstra’s relationship (Picture: Kate Green/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)

Katherine Ryan revealed she has been diagnosed with skin cancer for the second time after feeling ‘uneasy’ over a mole.

In the latest episode of her podcast, the comedian, 41, confirmed her doctor had called her that morning with the news.

On Telling Everybody Everything, she shared she has melanoma, 20 years after she was first diagnosed with skin cancer.

During a visit to the doctors over a mole on her arm, Katherine was given the all-clear and told not to worry.

‘I know you should never google things but I’m actually really worried,’ she confessed.

‘Normally I’m that positive person. I think it’s really easy to take a diagnosis of “you’re healthy” and walk away.’

Here’s what we know about the comedian’s life away from the limelight.

Who is Katherine Ryan’s husband Bobby Kootstra? Katherine said she and Bobby met at school in Canada (Picture: Getty Images)

Katherine entered into a civil partnership with her childhood sweetheart Bobby Kootstra during a ceremony in Denmark in 2019 after rekindling their romance a year earlier.

The pair initially met when they were teenagers at their high school in Sarnia, Ontario.

They dated  ‘on and off’ from the age of 15 for about a year. ‘He’d split up with me for reasons like he wanted to concentrate on football and then we’d get back together,’ she told MailOnline in 2021.

They broke up for good on Prom night when Bobby ended things for ‘basically for no reason except he was drunk’. In retaliation, Katherine kissed a security guard.

They rekindled things decades later in 2018 when she briefly visited Canada and the pair ended up sleeping together after meeting up at a bar.

‘In the morning, I flipped out because I don’t have one-night stands. Ever. But he was so gentlemanly. He texted me right away. He didn’t play any games and we kept messaging back and forth.

‘As soon as I got back to London, I invited him to visit. He took a week off work and came.

‘Then and there I said: “I think we might end up together.” He said: “Yeah, I think we might.”’ – and their relationship went from strength to strength from there.

Katherine Ryan confirmed her cancer diagnosis on March 21 (Picture: WireImage)

Speaking about her relationship on The Chris & Rosie Ramsey Show in 2023, she said: ‘We’re 40, we’re married and we’re very patient with each other, we communicate and we’ve lived these lives, but we have these f**king infants.

‘I think we’re good parents and we’re very privileged but it kicks the living s**t right out of you.’

Asked how often they have sex, she replied, according to The Daily Mail: ‘Not very often. I log it because I’m always trying to conceive! Day to day we’re back and forth about having more babies.

‘I will never allow him to get the snip! I just really love kids. Look, I’m 40 this year, we’ll see!’

How many children does Katherine Ryan have?

Katherine and Bobby share three children. The pair have a son named Fred, two, and baby daughter Fenna Grace, who was born in December 2022. 

Katherine is also mum to Violet, 14, from a previous relationship when she was 25, to whom Bobby is now a stepfather.

Katherine said her three children are a ‘blessing’ (Picture: UKTV)

While she frequently shares the realities of being a mum, Katherine admitted previously to Metro that she regretted sharing her co-sleeping advice.

‘My children have enriched my life, they’re such a blessing and I would never trade them for anything,’ Katherine told Women Magazine.

The Roast Battle icon continued: ‘But I would be lying if I said they didn’t ruin the life I had before. But I rebuilt a better one and that’s fine.

‘I would be pretending if I said that I could still do all the things that I could before and I think we’re selling this fantasy of what motherhood means if we aren’t honest about that.’

Katherine frequently speaks about parenting and her relationship on her podcast (Picture: Getty)

In her comedy shows, Katherine has often joked about a wild youth which changed dramatically once Violet arrived and she became a single mother.

Bobby previously admitted he wants his ‘sexy wife’ back in their bed as part of the family’s reality series Katherine Ryan: Parental Guidance.

The couple use co-sleeping for their kids, as Katherine explained: ‘We’re both co-sleeping with someone. Bobby sleeps with Fred because I’m sleeping with Fenna. It’s really good for the children to have that.’

However, the confession garnered a lot of backlash from other parents who didn’t approve of the method.

‘I feel like, I really believe in it,’ the Duchess star told Metro. ‘I think that you respond to your children’s needs immediately, and you’re very patient with them learning to feed themselves and learning to walk.

‘But in a lot of homes, we’re not patient about them learning to soothe themselves to sleep.’

What skin cancer does Katherine Ryan have?

On March 21 the star revealed to fans that she had been diagnosed with melanoma, a form of skin cancer for the second time.

What is melanoma

As Katherine shared, melanoma is a form of skin cancer which is known to be particularly aggressive.

It grows from the melanocytes, the cells which form melanin and give skin its pigment.

Melanoma is known to grow quickly and can spread to other organs. Early detection — which Katherine has — is crucial in fighting it.

While it is the most deadly skin cancer, survival rates have been improving and around 87% of patients live for over 10 years after diagnosis.

The star revealed on her podcast that she was initially turned away by doctors when she initially raised concerns about her mole.

 ‘But the mole kept changing, I know a lot about melanoma, I had melanoma as a very young woman – aged 21 – on my leg, I’ve spoken about that before.

‘It was flat, it wasn’t that big but it was melanoma. It is a deadly form of skin cancer and it does spread quickly.’

She said she knew the mole ‘wasn’t right’ and insisted the doctor remove it and ‘stitch it up’ again.

‘Even when he looked at it, he was like, “It’s not melanoma, it’s totally fine, I will do a shave and send it away for testing”,’ she added.

After testing, the doctor called her back with the diagnosis. Katherine has yet to announce the next steps in her treatment.

Macmillan cancer support

If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with cancer, Macmillan can offer support and information.

You can contact their helpline on 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week from 8am to 8pm), use their webchat service, or visit their site for more information.

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