Katherine Ryan has revealed how she got locked out of her house with her newborn baby inside.
This week, the comedian made headlines when she revealed CCTV footage of the moment she realised she was trapped outdoors with her 18-month-old boy while her two-month-old daughter Fenna slept inside.
She said that everything had worked out nicely and that she was finally able to return inside to her kid, who was well, and that she did so in part to make other mothers who had gone through similar experiences ‘feel seen.’
Katherine shared the complete tale of how she became locked out in the latest edition of her Telling Everybody Everything Podcast, and it was a case of everything going wrong at once.
The Masked Singer UK star explained that the family was keeping all the doors closed to keep the cat out of the house because she had recently become a’murderess,’ killing small animals in the garden and bringing them home as a treat, which Katherine and civil partner Bobby were uncomfortable with because they had a small baby.
(Spoiler alert: the doors lock automatically behind you. So you can see where this is going.)
At the same time, Bobby had separated Katherine’s house key from her vehicle keys because she had lately taken the bus home instead of driving.
Katherine had intended to bring the two younger children to the golf course where Bobby was playing for a picture session on the day she was locked out, and had dressed one-year-old Fred in his golfing suit for the purpose.
The mother of three placed baby Fenna to sleep in her crib by the window and carried toddler Fred out to the car, and when the door closed behind her,’my head went “Oh my God.”
After double-checking the front and back doors and confirming they were all secured, the mother felt a “cold, quiet fear” as she informed her kid, who was still in her arms, that she had done something “extremely horrible.”
‘So now I know that I am locked out of the house holding Fred in my arms, I don’t have my phone, I don’t have Fenna, I don’t have my house key.’
She testified that breaking the glass had ‘passed my mind,’ and that she had pondered driving with Fred ‘five minutes down the road’ to the golf course to get Bobby – except that he had informed her earlier in the day that his phone was about to die.
Exasperated, Katherine said she had constantly reminded him he needed to be contactable and not to let his phone die as they have ‘two small children and a teenager at school,’ but added that either way, ‘there was no way I was going to get in the car and leave Fenna sleeping in the house.’
Eventually, the frightened mother hurried to a neighbor’s house, where she was greeted by a Nanny from one of the families, who offered her her phone and enabled her to call the golf course in an attempt to locate Bobby.
After a staff member agreed to inform him that he needed to return home right away, the Nanny phoned her employer, who also texted Bobby’s phone to explain the issue.
By the time Katherine returned home, Bobby was aware of the situation and on his way home, she says she had become’super calm,’ and confessed that the entire episode had only taken around 10 minutes.
When she considered the advantages, she conceded that it was a lot better position than if Fred had been trapped inside where he may have been in ‘danger’ or left ‘traumatised’ because he was aware of what was going on, while Fenna slept soundly throughout.
The mother of three had published the beginning of her tale on Instagram, and listeners flocked to the comments section to relate their own experiences and reassure her that she had done nothing wrong.
As one person wrote: ‘You shouldn’t be ashamed of what happened or to share either… we’re all human and have all done things like this at some point in our lives.’
Another joked Katherine’s regaling of the story was ‘better than almost all telly,’ adding: ‘You’re the best.’