BBC defends Katherine Ryan following complaints over ‘straight white man’ joke on All That Glitters

Comedian told reality show contestant to ‘think like a white man’

The BBC has defended Katherine Ryan after a joke she made on All That Glitters was met with backlash online.

The Canadian comedian is the host of the BBC’s latest competition series, which aims to find Britain’s “next jewellery star”.

During the opening episode of the show, which aired on Tuesday (13 April), Ryan encouraged contestant Tamara Gomez to have more belief in her work and to “think like a white man”.

“You need to really back yourself,” Ryan said.

“Do you know how confident a straight white man would be right now? Think about Boris Johnson, how pleased he’d be right now,” she said.

“He’d be like, ‘nailed it’. Sometimes we have to think like these men.”

After some viewers complained about the comments on social media, the BBC issued a statement defending Ryan.

“Many viewers of this programme will be familiar with Katherine Ryan’s well-established style of comedy after multiple appearances on BBC comedy programmes over the years,” they said.

“Comedy is one of the most subjective areas of programming and we can assure you we never set out to offend viewers with anything we show.”

All That Glitters continues Tuesday (20 April) at 8pm on BBC Two.