Katherine Ryan reveals shock cancer diagnosis

Katherine Ryan has cancer

Photo: © Getty Images

Katherine Ryan has been diagnosed with skin cancer.

The 41-year-old comedian was first diagnosed with melanoma in her early twenties but revealed on Friday (21.03.25) that the disease has come her way a second time despite doctors initially telling her that everything was "totally fine" with her when she raised concerns over a suspicious mole.

Speaking on her 'Telling Everybody Everything' podcast, she said: "I know you should never Google things but I’m actually really worried. Normally I’m that positive person

"I think it’s really easy to take a diagnosis of ‘you’re healthy’ and walk away.

"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.

"I just thought that this mole wasn’t right. It’s on my arm. I showed pictures of it on my social media. I went in and I wanted the doctor to remove it and stitch it up in a straight line.

"But 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.

"And he rang me today and it did come back as melanoma. Early melanoma. The doctor was shocked and told me I need to go back."

The '8 Out of 10 Cats' star also worried what could have been had she not been her "own advocate" and continued to seek medical advice.

She said: "It just feels crazy to me, what could have happened, if I hadn't been my own advocate - and I will continue to be my own advocate."

The Canadian-born star previously opened up about her first diagnosis and joked that moving to the UK had been the "best thing" for her because of the lack of warm weather.

She told The Guardian: "I just joked that it was free lipo. If you’re prone to skin cancer, then living in the UK is the best thing you can do."