Latest news with #Seann
Metro
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Katherine Ryan: 'I spiralled when the audience refused to laugh at my jokes'
Katherine Ryan might be one of the best-known comedians in the country, but she recently faced the brutal response from an audience who refused to laugh at her jokes. Best known for appearing on shows including 8 Out of 10 Cats, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, A League of Their Own, Mock the Week, Would I Lie to You?, QI and Have I Got News for You, the 40-year-old is now one of the stars of the new game show Silence is Golden. The premise of the six-episode series is pretty simple. Hosted by Dermot O'Leary, each episode begins with broadcaster U&Dave giving the studio audience £250,000 to share between them. All they need to do to keep it is to keep completely silent and not make a sound. That means no talking, no laughing and no gasping. Standing between them and the prize money are comedians and team captains Katherine, Seann Walsh and Fatiha El-Ghorri, who help lead a group of acts to wage war on the audience. If they get the prize pot to £0, they get to give it to charity. Their tactics are hilarious and sometimes completely underhanded, with one scene in the premiere episode leaving an audience member in shock as Katherine brings out her dog and sarcastically threatens to harm him if the woman doesn't react. Despite her best efforts, Katherine's attempts to break the audience members was an uphill battle – and even impossible at times. She said it was brutal realising their pre-prepared material 'wasn't working'. 'Anything you prepare for on this show doesn't work, and we went into it thinking we are competent stand-up comedians,' she said. 'But when they weren't reacting I was absolutely spiralling and that's why we were just trying whatever we could.' 'It's really unnatural to have an audience who are stone faced…we were incredibly destabilised. We were doing and saying things that we wouldn't normally say. We're usually very prepared doing standup, but we could not prepare for this and had to be adaptable.' However, she added: 'I know that our job was to take the money but then I did see them really celebrating, which was nice. I felt like I worked for an insurance company, and I knew that I was on the side of evil.' Meanwhile Seann explained: 'Even though you're aware that they are being paid £250,000 to not laugh at you, you think that might take off some of the sting when you're there, and it doesn't. They're just staring at you and the money doesn't matter. It feels as awful as it would if they weren't being paid at all. Yeah, it's absolutely horrific. But it's great to watch the other comics struggle.' Katherine and Seann also had to grapple with contradictory feelings of wanting to see the audience win some cash but also ensure they carried out their job to make them react and lose money. 'These guys are under a lot of pressure because, you know, U have said to us at the start, we don't have £250,000 pounds to give away. Like the channel's going down if they failed,' Dermot joked. But with such a massive amount of money on the line, the audience members were incredibly determined and were not impressed if someone broke. 'One thing that we didn't expect going into the show was that they were going to start turning on each other, which is such a huge part of the show and that grew naturally,' he laughed. 'We thought that the interval was actually a chance for them to kind of relax and unwind and what we didn't know is they were going to start turning on each other. And shouting! It's a great piece of television.' Throughout the process Dermot also gets the chance to try and bribe the audience members with money or prizes. If they speak, they can secure an individual prize, but doing so results in the group losing money. 'You can see them just kind of going, 'I'm just gonna go for myself'. So, I'd come on and go, 'ok who wants to do xyz for 200 quid and one would be like ME!'. Then the rest would go 'oh no that's just cost us 10 grand' and this one guy is like, 'I don't care, I've got 200 quid'.' More Trending Katherine went on to share that the 'desperation' on show in Silence is Golden also resulted in a 'authentic' series unlike any other game show seen before. 'You get to see people's natural reactions when it comes to greed and then when it comes to desperation, like everyone is at their most authentic because we don't know what to do and we just have to win,' she said. 'So, it's a real fight or flight series and then we were forced to throw the most unimaginable, surprising acts at the audience. It's not like anything else you'll see and is such a fun concept.' View More » Silence is Golden starts on Monday May 5 on U and U&Dave. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Comedian Milton Jones cancels tour dates after devastating prostate cancer diagnosis MORE: Katherine Ryan reveals the savage reason Stephen Hawking rejected her MORE: Bitter war over Benny Hill's £7,500,000 fortune revealed
Daily Mirror
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Katherine Ryan opens up on wedding joy after second skin cancer diagnosis
After having a malignant mole removed, Katherine Ryan is preparing to celebrate a loved one's milestone this summer. But she's certain she could throw their plans into chaos. 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.'
Daily Mirror
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Dermot O'Leary threatened with stern warning by U bosses - 'we don't have the money'
Taking the reins of Silence is Golden on U, with Katherine Ryan, Fatiha El-Ghorri and Seann Wash in tow, presenter Dermot O'Leary was given a huge warning by the channel. Silence might be golden - but it can also be pure chaos. That's the lesson Dermot O'Leary learned while juggling This Morning with U's new social experiment show, Silence is Golden. The high-stakes programme sees 70 audience members offered £250k on one strict condition - they don't make a sound. 'We were filming at least two episodes a day,' the 51-year old says. 'So by the end of it, you're like 'Someone please say something.'' Dermot would dash to the set of Silence is Golden from ITV 's daytime studio, often working until 11pm. The constant shift between lively morning antics and deadpan silence left even the seasoned broadcaster rattled. Silence is Golden is simple - on paper. Stay silent, win a life-changing prize. The twist? Dermot unleashes a panel of chaos agents - comedians and entertainers whose job is to make contestants crack. Dermot leads captains Katherine Ryan, Strictly star Seann Walsh and Fatiha El-Ghorri on to the stage, 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.' Dermot adds: 'It's £5000 for a small reaction, £10,000 for a large reaction. Everyone's wired, everyone's got mics, everyone's got cameras on them, and we've even got a Guinness world record adjudicator, Joanne Brent, who I found on This Morning!' But there's more than money on the line for Dermot and the panel. 'Our job is to get the money back,' says Dermot. 'The channel said to us, right from the start, 'We don't have this money to give away.' That comes with its own pressure.' And for the audience? The pressure to keep silent was so intense that trust began to erode - even after filming ended. 'They were so scared, even with the light back on,' Dermot says. 'Joanne has to tell them: 'The light is now on. You can talk.' And even then, there were trust issues.' One contestant with a severe phobia of snakes and spiders left the show altogether before uttering a single word - sacrificing themselves so the others could win. Still, the real 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.' Backstage, however, the performers bonded over both the madness and their shared struggles. 'There's nothing the comedian loves more than another comedian bombing,' says Seann. 'It's a win-win situation - we can laugh at a fantastic act or at the silence when it falls flat!' 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.' 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. Those groups of friends that get the giggles for whatever reason.' 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.' One thing is certain: silence has never sounded so loud - or been so hilariously dangerous.
Daily Mail
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Seann Walsh is seen for the first time in public with his newborn Casper and partner Grace Adderley - after keeping pregnancy a secret
Seann Walsh was seen for the first time in public with his newborn son Casper and partner Grace Adderley as they enjoyed the sunshine in London on Monday. The comedian, 39, announced the birth of his second child last month, after keeping his partner's pregnancy a secret. The doting father-of-two looked happier than ever as he walked around Kensington with Grace. Grace looked radiant and glowing as she kept Casper close to her chest in a baby sling while he slept peacefully. Seann, who wore a casual grey T-shirt and navy jeans for the outing, grabbed a coffee to aid the tiredness. The mother-of-two looked incredible in light blue jeans and a loose-fitting T-shirt as she giggled with Seann on their walk. The comedian announced the birth of his second child last month after keeping his partner's pregnancy a secret Revealing the shock baby arrival last month, he posted a picture on his Instagram story of his daughter Wylda, two, who he shares with Grace. Alongside the picture of the little one with what looks like yoghurt on her head, he quipped: 'My first five minutes being left alone with Wylda and our newborn Casper. S*** just got real.' He then posted another picture, this time holding baby Casper, with Wylda sat in a high chair as the family ate lunch on a bench outside. Seann jokingly wrote: 'Gonna need a bigger boat'. Their baby news no doubt came as a surprise to fans as Seann and Grace never shared the news they were expecting. Seann first became a father in February 2023 after the couple welcomed daughter Wylda, and shared the happy news to Instagram. Taking to his stories, he shared a clip of himself as he sat in the hospital after the birth, saying: 'Grace has had our baby and I'm sat here in the very relaxing postnatal department, and the staff have been great. 'The nurses have been coming up to me all morning and congratulating me.' The mother-of-two looked incredible in light blue jeans and a loose-fitting T-shirt as she giggled with Seann on their walk The couple were full of spirits on their walk Their baby news no doubt came as a surprise to fans as Seann and Grace never shared the news they were expecting He then shared a post, which read: 'Oh btw. I passed out during the birth. Of course I did. The nurse's response... "Men." Fair.' The former Strictly Come Dancing revealed in October 2022 that he and his dance teacher girlfriend were having a baby. Speaking to a friend during an Instagram Live session at the time, Seann told a friend: 'I'm having a child.' Seann was then asked by the friend: 'So you're gonna be a dad?', before replying 'yeah' - with the unnamed man responding: 'That's worrying.' The funnyman then told his followers: 'Unbelievable. Everyone else has been really nice, that's the worst response yet.' Seann and Grace have been dating since 2019, but largely keep their relationship out of the spotlight. Apart from being on I'm A Celebrity, Seann hit headlines during his 2018 stint in Strictly Come Dancing when he was caught kissing his married dance partner Katya Jones on his then-girlfriend Rebecca Humphries' birthday. Seann previously confessed he still feels 'traumatised from his time on Strictly Come Dancing. In April 2024, the stand-up explained on Russell Howard's Wonderbox podcast that he can't dance anymore and if he ever sees a 'Strictly No Parking' zone while out driving, the bad memories come flooding back. He said: 'I do not dance. What it is more actually is when you turn up to any car park or something, and it says, 'Strictly No Parking'. I still just go, 'Arghh', every time I see it. 'I can hear the word — like a dog hearing something — I can just hear the word strictly and I still go, 'Arghh!' He went on to explain that he went back to doing comedy shows far too soon after the scandal erupted and that he was often heckled on stage after spiralling into depression. Seann said he 'looked unwell, thin and gaunt' while performing during that time and that some audiences would just leave his shows because of it. He said on the podcast: 'I went back too soon — that's for sure. You've got to kind of let audiences, or the public, almost let them get over it. But I wanted to kind of fight it. 'I didn't want this thing that was happening to my life to take away the only thing that I had. 'I would have looked unwell. I was extremely thin and gaunt. It was so difficult. The audiences didn't know how to feel. They'd get up, they'd leave. Sometimes they'd tell me that they were appalled by me.'
