Katherine Ryan stole the show, popping into the studio to talk about her new memoir Confessions of a Firstborn Daughter and ended up teaching Sara Cox her bizarre signature noise. After much teasing about keeping it “a mystery”, Katherine relented and talked Sara through the method live on air, fist against the mouth and all, leaving Sara declaring “that is so good” once she’d had a go herself.
Listen: Katherine Ryan’s secret noise
The pair were joined down the phone by Romesh Ranganathan, who Katherine writes about extensively in the book as one of her closest confidants. Producers set him up to ask her a secret live on air, and Romesh used it to ask which comedians she doesn’t like. Katherine didn’t dodge entirely, saying she isn’t a fan of “a few at the moment who contribute to a culture of sexual violence” and namechecking Shane Gillis, while stressing “I don’t really have any enemies.”
Sara’s regular Surprise and Shane feature misfired spectacularly this week when the registered winner, Katey, picked up the phone convinced the whole bit was fake. “I didn’t realise you actually called people, I thought they were just actors,” she told a baffled Sara, who had to explain the show genuinely can’t afford to hire actors, “we can barely afford the socks.”
Listen: Surprise and Shine mix-up
Elsewhere, the mailbag ran hot on two fronts: listeners’ underwhelming long-service rewards from work, and an extended, increasingly chaotic run of bra-related confessions after Sara admitted to a mystery stain saga involving toothpaste.
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