Comedy star Katherine Ryan has accused the telly industry of being sexist and despite being a regular on 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown she said panel shows are guilty.
Katherine, 38, said that “potential irrelevance is another obstacle women face at 35.”
She blasted: “This is especially true in the entertainment industry.
“I’ve actually overheard decision-makers rejecting suggestions for female contributors on the basis that they’d be ‘too old for our audience’, then booking male comedians in the same age bracket instead.
“You only need to look at the lingering panel show trend of casting six male headliner comedians next to one or two ‘beautiful entertainer’ category women who’ve never delivered a single line of stand-up in their young lives to see that female comics aren’t valued in the same way as our male counterparts.”
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Women in Film and TV)
Katherine created hit Netflix series The Duchess but has appeared in a string of shows such as 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.
She revealed: “I’ve been instructed by producers through an earpiece to ‘smile more’, specifically at the very serious man sat next to me.
“I’ve had frank production chats about wearing my hair down to look ‘softer’; I’ve had my wardrobe scrutinised while half the boys can’t even bring in a clean shirt and I’d be a fool to think that my carefully crafted glamorous image hasn’t been at least partly responsible for my success.
(Image: Channel 4)
“Oh, I’ve also shared a table at an awards show with a big-time producer who got drunk and made loud MOO-ing noises at a young woman while she accepted her trophy on stage.
“If we complain about any of it, we’re branded forever as ‘difficult’.”
In her new book The Audacity, Katherine claimed that women can also get axed over their size and appearance as well as their age.
She added: “The thought of getting fat as well as old simultaneously was professionally scary.
(Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
“It would force people to change their understanding of ‘what I was’ as an entertainer and give them the option to reject me instead.
“People don’t love change. I get that I’m a comedian, not a pop star, and that appearance doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but it does matter on TV. Even in comedy… at least, when you’re a woman.
“I promise you that it matters to some of the people deciding whether to continue to give me opportunities or not.
“There’s a certain echelon of experience and familiarity where they’ll make an exception for you but, most of the time, it’s just easier to pick someone else. Preferably, a young actress or a bubbly presenter who laughs a lot.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
