Background
The daughter of an Irish-immigrant draughtsman father who owns an engineering company, and a Canadian-born mother of Irish descent, Ryan and her two younger sisters were born and raised in Sarnia, Ontario.
The daughter of an Irish-immigrant draughtsman father who owns an engineering company, and a Canadian-born mother of Irish descent, Ryan and her two younger sisters were born and raised in Sarnia, Ontario.
When she was 18 years old, she decided to leave home and randomly chose to study city planning at university in Toronto.
She has appeared on British panel shows including Mock the Week, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, 8 Out of 10 Cats, QI and Have I Got News Foreign You. In 2015, she replaced Steve Jones as the presenter of Hair on British Broadcasting Corporation Two. As an actress, she has appeared in the Channel 4 sitcom Campus, British Broadcasting Corporation Two sitcom Episodes and Don"t Sit in the Front Row with Jack Dee.
As a stand-up comedian, Ryan has appeared on the British Broadcasting Corporation"s Live At The Apollo, both as a featured act and as a lead acting
While attending university, she worked at Hooters and then began training other waitresses. In her spare time, she undertook open mic nights as an alternative form of personal entertainment and by graduation had developed a basic comedic routine.
After graduation, Ryan continued working for Hooters as a corporate trainer, travelling around Canada to train other waitresses, and helping to open the only United Kingdom branch in Nottingham. Her then partner wanted to explore London, so she agreed to do so for an initial month from summer 2007, moving there permanently from January 2008.
Ryan was featured on the Whitney Cummings Just for Laughs 2013 Gala that was taped before a live audience on 28 July 2013.
She has since taken new routines to the Edinburgh Festival. Ryan first appeared on television on Channel 4"s 8 Out of 10 Cats in 2012. Soon after, she gained acting roles in Channel 4’s Campus and in the British Broadcasting Corporation Two sitcom Episodes, playing the blonde assistant to television executive Merc and star Matt LeBlanc.
On 23 February 2013, she appeared as a celebrity contestant on British Broadcasting Corporation One"s Let"s Dance for Comic Relief as Nicki Minaj dancing to "Starships".
Ryan reached the final, and finished in fourth place. In 2015, Ryan replaced Steve Jones as the presenter of Hair on British Broadcasting Corporation Two.
Also in 2015, Ryan became a panellist for Tinie Tempah"s team on Sky 1"s music/comedy panel show Bring the Noise and on the ITV2 show, Safeword. Ryan has a weekly column in the British entertainment magazine NME.