Katherine Ryan and partner Bobby Kootstra sign up for Celebrity Gogglebox

Katherine Ryan and partner Bobby Kootstra have signed up to appear on the new series of Celebrity Gogglebox.

The Canadian comedian, 39, and her 40-year-old purchasing and technical consultant other half will join series stalwarts including Zoe Ball, Johnny Ball and Woody Cook, Denise Van Outen and Duncan James, plus Shaun Ryder and Bez when the Channel 4 show returns on June 16.

Confirming the news to The Sun, Ryan said: “It’s usually just the dogs who get to see us watch TV, so we’re excited to welcome viewers into our home as we decompress in our favourite spot — the sofa.

“We’ve been huge Gogglebox fans for years and we are thrilled to be taking part.”

Ryan and Koostra were teenage sweethearts and reconnected after two decades in 2018 while she was filming for BBC genealogy programme Who Do You Think You Are? in her native Ontario.

In 2019, they entered into a civil partnership, opting to conduct their ceremony in Denmark because it was “quickest and easiest”.

Ryan opened up about their decision to become civil partners during an appearance on ITV’s The Jonathan Ross Show.

“It was a lovely day”, she told host Ross.

“It’s perfect having a civil partner. We didn’t have a wedding, I didn’t need to put on a white dress and pretend to be a virgin, that ship has sailed!”

She and Kootstra welcomed their first together, a boy named Fred, in June 2021.

Their second child, a little girl named Fenna Grace, was born in December 2022.

Ryan also has a 13-year-old daughter, Violet, from a previous relationship.