How did your show Romantic Getaway come about?
Romesh Ranganathan and his production partner, Ben Green, wrote it and asked me to be involved. I loved the idea of a two-hander heist comedy because there’s loads of action. And he allowed a lot of space for me to be funny too, which you don’t always get with a female lead.
Do you and Romesh know each other well?
Romesh isn’t just a colleague, he’s one of my top three best friends in comedy. It’s a special closeness. We started around the same time together when we both had young families and were transitioning from office to creative jobs. We have a WhatsApp where we slag people off. He’s my go-to person if I hear gossip. Before any women, he’s the first person I tell.
That’s lucky, because you play his wife!
I’ve done romantic scenes with friends before and it hasn’t gone so well because I’m not a proper actress. It’s difficult for me to lose myself in character and do whatever Rada teaches actors to do. Helpfully, Romesh and my character have been married for a while, so there’s little physical intimacy. That’s for the good of the viewer and our friendship.
And your children…
Yes, and our children, who know each other. You never want your teenagers to be like, ‘Ugh, why are Romesh and Katherine necking?’ It would be weird if we were getting off with each other. No thanks!
Johnny Vegas is in it as well…
And we do have sex, both on and off camera. No! Johnny Vegas is such a delightful person. It was so exciting when I heard he could make the time in his busy schedule because I know Romesh wrote that role for him, just like he wrote Alison for me. Johnny follows the script but adds his own improv that’s included in the final edit.
It also addresses how hard it is having IVF…
Yes, there are some serious scenes that address the trauma and loss involved in a lot of people’s journeys to start a family. But also it raises an interesting ethical quandary of a Robin Hood scenario where you rob a nasty man to grow your family, which is this biological urge that a lot of people feel is very unjustly out of their reach.
You act, write, do stand-up and host a podcast and a jewellery show. How do you do so much?
For a long time I worked in an office like Alison’s with the little cubicles and had to queue for the bus and Tube every day, doing a job that didn’t inspire me. And I still ended up on the poverty line at the end of every month – so I relate to these characters. I do so much because I feel gratitude and surprised that people offer me jobs in comedy.
But you’ve also worked hard so you should be reaping the benefits…
I’m financially comfortable for the first time. As soon as my daughter and I bought property, I felt a lot safer. I have the freedom to have a nanny if I wanted to, but for some reason I insist on raising my own children in a very ‘attachment’ Montessori fashion. I haven’t slept in 17 months so right now it’s a bit intense.
You’ve just had baby Fenna Grace. Will you be going back to work quickly?
I went back to work when Fred was eight days old. I just took him with me. If I was a cashier at Morrisons and I turned up at work with a newborn, people might have something to say.
Was it when you did Who Do You Think You Are? that you were reunited with your childhood sweetheart and now husband Bobby Kootstra?
If I hadn’t done that, where I would be? The year before I met him, ironically, is when I’d decided my partnerships had been a toxic distraction and I was excited to grow into a single, disruptive, eccentric woman with loads of tiny dogs.
I felt privileged to have had a solid decade with my daughter. I didn’t have to share her so we lived like best friends. But Violet has become a young woman with her friends so it’s good Bobby’s here and I have the babies. We’re just a different shape of a family. My skin elasticity would have been back to where it was if I hadn’t been pregnant, but it’s fine.
Who’s your favourite comedian to roast?
I love comedians who enjoy a roast because not everyone does. You only roast the ones who love it – like Jimmy Carr. The harder you go in on him, the more flattered he is. I feel flattered when someone takes the time to research me and craft a joke that’s clever and ‘hurtful’.
When they’re lazy or talk about Canada, I’m disappointed. I like someone to be an assassin. Sarah Tiana, an American comedian and now my good friend, roasted me in front of Wanda Sykes and Dave Chappelle when I was a baby comedian.
Romantic Getaway is on Sky Comedy and NOW
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