Comedian Katherine Ryan has revealed she’s battling skin cancer. 

She made the revelation in her podcast, Telling Everybody Everything, explaining that she paid to have mole removed from her arm and later learned it was cancerous. 

The mother-of-three explained: ‘The only reason that they agreed to remove it was because I went to a fancy private place in South Kensington and I paid them a grand.

‘I don’t know if on the NHS they ever would have removed this mole.’

While the Canadian comic, 41, did not trust the NHS would have removed the mole, she also struggled while seeing private doctors. 

She explained that she had £300 for a seven-minute consultation with a doctor, who  wrongly informed her the mole wasn’t cancerous.

Comedian Katherine Ryan, 41, has revealed she’s battling cancer for the second time as she took a swipe at the NHS and revealed  she was initially misdiagnosed (pictured in February) 

Katherine recalled: ‘He gave me the news that I wanted! I think it’s really easy to take a diagnosis of you’re healthy and walk away, you go ”great I’m healthy” and you don’t think about it again because that is the easiest news.

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

‘Even that didn’t look traditionally like melanoma to me, fair enough it had some discolouration and asymmetry and a bit of black and red. It was a flat mole, not that bad and not that big, but it was stage two melanoma so that was bad. 

‘I had to have full general anesthetic and surgery to have a golf-ball size of my leg because – if you know about melanoma, you know it’s a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly form of skin cancer and it spreads quickly.’

Discussing her current cancer battle, she went on:  ‘I just felt like this mole wasn’t right. It’s on my arm, I showed pictures of it on social media, this is like the hole from having it removed. 

‘I went in and I wanted the doctor to remove a bigger piece of it and sтιтch it up in a straight line. 

‘But even when he looked at it, he was like ”not melanoma, totally fine, I will do the shave and send it away for histology and if there’s any borders that we missed, then we will do the deeper cut”.’

Yet the test confirmed that she needed the deeper cut, and she continued:  ‘It just feels crazy to me, like what could have happened if I hadn’t been my own advocate – and I will continue to be my own advocate.

‘If I hadn’t pushed, if I had taken that good answer the first time and walked away. Then I would have had melanoma just growing and spreading in my arm and I would say ”oh no the doctor says it’s fine, it’s fine” and god knows how far that would have gone.’ 

It’s the second time Katherine has been diagnosed with the disease, having been diagnosed with Stage 2 cancer in 2004 (pictured on The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer in 2021) 

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Katherine shared her shock at the diagnosis, revealing how she has been careful to protect her skin.

Explaining how she broke the news to husband Bobby Kootstra, she shared: ‘I was upset when I called [Bobby] because I feel very lucky but I also feel like what the f**k? 

‘It’s not ideal to have melanoma twice in your life and I obviously have a genetic predisposition, I am someone with type one, Celtic skin, I have over 100 moles. 

‘I don’t go in the sun, I wear SPF all the time, I cover my body, I cover my arms, I cover my face, but here’s my second go with melanoma that I know of! I’m thinking f**k what other moles do I need to get checked?’

It’s the second time Katherine has been diagnosed with the disease, having been diagnosed with Stage 2 cancer in 2004. 

She said previously: ‘The cancer wasn’t that serious. It wasn’t into my lymph nodes, I didn’t have to have chemotherapy. 

‘It did recur, but it was easily dealt with. I feel like I was really lucky just to get that lesson, that little smack on the a**e of “Hey, wait a minute. Listen to your body, here.”’ 

Katherine was born and raised in Canada but moved to London in her early twenties to pursue her comedy career. 

The comedienne and her childhood sweetheart Bobby have two children together Fenna, two, and Fred, three. 

She also has a 15-year-old daughter Violet from her previous relationship with boyfriend Alex Edelman.

Katherine was born and raised in Canada but moved to London in her early twenties to pursue her comedy career (pictured with husband Bobby Kootstra in 2024) 

The comedienne and her childhood sweetheart Bobby have two children together Fenna, two, and Fred, three. She also has a 15-year-old daughter Violet from a previous relationship

Katherine has also been battling Lupus and previously discussed her struggle with the disease – having first experienced symptoms back in 2007. 

She had just moved to London when she first began to suffer with sore joints, fatigue and rashes. 

In an interview with The Mirror she explained: ‘I had really low white blood cells, but no one seemed particularly alarmed about that. There was a lot of frustration with doctors who didn’t know what was wrong and didn’t investigate. I felt quite fobbed off.’ 

Following various appointments with an array of specialists, she added that she was told she could have ‘ringworm’ whilst another took a guess with ‘leprosy.’ 

Desperately Katherine visited A&E, where a nurse there first suggested that she might have Lupus. 

After almost a year of trying to get a professional diagnosis she was finally told by a dermatologist that she had systemic lupus erythematosus. 

Whilst there is no cure for the long-term condition, it can be treated and controlled with medication to prevent it from getting worse and lessen flare-ups. 

As well as being a stand-up comedian appearing on shows such as QI and Have I Got News For You, Katherine is also well-known for television programmes such as Duchess and Meet the Richardsons.

Fans know her as much for her glamourous looks and outfits as they do for her outspoken nature on everything British.

What is malignant melanoma? 

Malignant melanoma is a serious form of skin cancer that begins in melanocytes, cells found in the upper layer of skin that produce melanin, which gives skin its colour.

While less common that other types of skin cancer, it is more dangerous because of its ability to spread to other organs more rapidly if it is not treated at an early stage.

Symptoms

A new mole or a change in an existing mole may be signs of melanoma.

Melanomas can appear anywhere on your body, but they’re more common in areas that are often exposed to the sun.

Some rarer types can affect the eyes, soles of the feet, palms of the hands or genitals.

Check your skin for any unusual changes. Use a mirror or ask a partner or friend to check any areas you cannot see.

In particular, look for: 

Moles with an uneven shape or edges Moles with a mix of colours Large moles – melanomas often tend to be more than 6mm wide Moles that change size, shape or colour over time

Causes

Ultraviolet (UV) light is the most common cause of melanoma. It comes from the sun and is used in sunbeds.

Melanoma is more common in older people, but younger people can also get it.

You’re also more likely to get melanoma if you have:

Pale skin that burns easily in the sun Red or blonde hair Blue or green eyes A large number of freckles or moles Had a lot of sun exposure and you’ve had sunburn a lot in the past Used sunbeds a lot A history of skin cancer in your family or you’ve had skin cancer before

If you have black or brown skin, you have a lower chance of getting melanoma, but you can still get it. 

 Prevention

Staying safe in the sun is the best way to lower your chance of getting skin cancer (both melanoma and non-melanoma). 

Do the following:

Stay out of the sun during the H๏τtest part of the day (11am to 3pm in the UK)Keep your arms and legs covered and wear a wide-brimmed hat and sunglᴀsses that provide protection against ultraviolet (UV) raysUse sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30 and at least 4-star UVA protection – make sure you reapply it regularlyMake sure babies and children are protected from the sun – their skin is much more sensitive than adult skin

Treatment 

Melanoma skin cancer can often be treated. The treatment you have will depend on where it is, if it has spread and your general health.

Surgery is the main treatment for melanoma. Radiotherapy, medicines and chemotherapy are also sometimes used.

Surgery could involve removing the melanoma and an area of healthy skin around it, swollen lymph nodes if the cancer has spread to them and other parts of the body if it has spread to them.

If a large part of skin has to be removed, a skin graft might be needed which could see kin taken from another part of the body to cover the area where the melanoma was.

Radiotherpay is sometimes used to reduce the size of large melanomas and help control and relieve symptoms.

Targeted medicines and immotherapy are used to treat melanomas that can’t be dealt with by surgery, or have spread to lymph glands or other parts of the body.

Chemotherapy, which kills cancer cells, is sometimes used to treat advanced melanoma when it has spread to another part of the body. It does not work as well as other treatments, but can be used if you are unable to have them.

How dangerous is it?

Generally for people with melanoma in England:

almost all people (almost 100%) will survive their melanoma for 1 year or more after they are diagnosedaround 90 out of every 100 people (around 90%) will survive their melanoma for 5 years or more after diagnosismore than 85 out of every 100 people (more than 85%) will survive their melanoma for 10 years or more after they are diagnosed

Sources: NHS, the Skin Cancer Foundation and Cancer Research UK