Katherine Ryan has hailed fellow Irish comedian Joanne McNally’s star quality on BBC’s The Celebrity Traitors, saying she can’t take her eyes off the show.
Ryan was a guest on The Oliver Callan Show on RTÉ Radio 1 on Friday when talk turned to McNally’s turn as one of the Faithfuls on The Celebrity Traitors.
Listen: Katherine Ryan joins The Oliver Callan Show on RTÉ Radio 1 on Friday
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“I am enjoying her so much on The Celebrity Traitors,” said Ryan.
“It’s the show that brings us together as a family; so many of my friends are on it,” she continued.
“But we’re respecting the rules of the show, and I don’t have any spoilers. And that’s the way I like it.”
When the host suggested that this year’s contestants could “chill out a bit and have a bit more fun”, Ryan replied: “Do you know what? I think it’s not fun!
Joanne McNally is one of the Faithfuls on the current series of The Celebrity Traitors on BBC One Photo: BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry
“I think it’s an amazing opportunity and it’s a fun game, but the way production works, you really are quite isolated, and you only care about the game. That’s where we get to enjoy all the drama, because it is like life and death for these Faithfuls.”
When Callan said that Traitor Maya Jama is having “a wonderful time on it”, Ryan enthused: “I’m having a wonderful time looking at Maya Jama’s bone structure! Her skin! Like, the different BBC cameras and the lighting! Oh! Maya Jama by candlelight, Maya Jama by the fire, Maya Jama outdoors – she’s a real exquisite delight for the eyes. And ears. And she’s such a good person as well.”
“We know the footage is real because Michael Sheen, he looks like a sheep farmer who slept in a hedge!” said Callan.
“But Maya Jama, even in the harshest light of day, she looks like she’s walking round Photoshopped the whole time. She’s just an image of perfection,” he continued.
“Well – and I think he must be Irish – her aesthetician’s called Shane Cooper – surely that’s an Irish name!” said Ryan.
“But also, they do their own glam. That’s a little behind-the-scenes fact. There is no make-up artist in that castle,” she revealed.
Katherine Ryan is also a big fan of Maya Jama on The Celebrity Traitors Photo: BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry
Ontario-born Ryan, who is an Irish citizen through her Cork father, Finbar, has just published her new book, First Born Daughter: Having It All and Doing It Anyway.
She will be back in her father’s native Cork city next month to christen her youngest daughter, Holland.
All of her children have been christened in Cork.
“At St Joseph’s [in Mayfield],” she told Callan. “Come one, come all!”
The Oliver Callan Show, weekdays, RTÉ Radio 1, 11am
The Celebrity Traitors, BBC One, Thursdays and Fridays, 8pm