KATHERINE RYAN SAYS VICTORIA BECKHAM CONTACTED HER OVER TV JOKE

Katherine Ryan says Victoria Beckham contacted her to say she was offended by a joke Ryan made on BBC panel show Have I Got News For You. Ryan said she apologised to Beckham after the November 2025 broadcast and had not heard from her since. The joke referred to a leaked email in which Sir David Beckham, Victoria Beckham’s husband, allegedly used an offensive word. Ryan told viewers: “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.” Ryan said she meant the remark to be tongue-in-cheek as she wrapped up a segment.

The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit upheld complaints about the remark. It ruled that “there was no such justification for a comment which presented Victoria Beckham as equivalent to a particularly offensive word”. The BBC subsequently removed the reference from the episode on iPlayer. Ryan said Beckham contacted her soon after the broadcast and told her she was offended. Ryan said she replied: “I love you and I’m really sorry. This is just how I am and I certainly didn’t mean to hurt any feelings.”

Ryan also apologised publicly when the BBC announced its ruling. In that apology, she said she had been in the BBC building with her 10-day-old daughter, Holland Juliette Koostra, when she made the joke. She described herself as experiencing “matrescence” at the time and said it offered no defence for the remark. Ryan said she had not contacted Beckham again because she believed she should apologise once and leave the matter there. She said they might “patch things up one day”.