KATHERINE Ryan knows she won't be everyone's cup of tea and she's totally fine with that. She tells Gemma Dunn why, even before her comedy days, she's always been open to indifference

STILETTOS, sequins, wigs and... Botox. Katherine Ryan is leaving no stone unturned ahead of her new tour. And she doesn't care who knows it.

"You've got to give a little showbiz!" she insists when I speak to her ahead of her opening night. "People come out to the theatre in the West End, so I'm not exactly going to rock up with my hair scraped back and jeans. Can you imagine?

"I think that would be really rude. I might be a very nasty woman, but I've got manners!"

The aptly named Glitter Room - her first tour since the critically acclaimed Kathbum - will see the Canadian comic take to London's Garrick Theatre for a 24-night residency.

It's a big deal for Ryan, 35, who is as decidedly glamorous as she is funny. But Botox and comedy entwined, she warns, calls for a "delicate balance".

"You gotta be careful out there," she quips. "You need some honest people in your life - and a really good doctor.

"And you need to be able to move your face, especially in my job," she adds, "but I'm just very transparent about these things. Why would I pretend that my hair is my own when I know it's extensions? Why would I pretend that I don't get Botox when I do? I think like, 'Whatever, I don't care'."

It's this honesty that's got Ryan - a former Hooters worker - where she is today.

In the decade since she moved to the UK (the star initially travelled to London with her daughter Violet and now ex-partner, whose infidelity inspired her 2014 show), she's carved out a career as a panel show regular and headliner at Live At The Apollo and has fronted sell-out gigs.

She even became the first and only British and Canadian woman with a Netflix special to her name with In Trouble.

Now, on the cusp of her next glittering foray, she's reflecting on her beginnings - namely her love for stand up.

"You wouldn't have the chops to do television, as a comedian, if you weren't also touring and doing stand-up," she muses. "That's the gym!"

She elaborates: "Like you couldn't be a boxer and just do the fight night, you have to go to the gym and train. And for me, I love live stand up."

Much of Ryan's appeal - like many good comedians - is she doesn't mind being at the expense of the joke.

Has she always had a thick skin?

"I was the only child in the history of the world that when your mother said, 'Oh those bullies are just jealous', I believed her," she recalls.

"I've just always respected that everyone is entitled to dislike or like what you're doing," she explains.

"But it's difficult now as a mother - my daughter will come home sometimes and say, 'Oh they made fun of my dance' and I'm like, 'Yeah, they're allowed not to like your dance. Not everybody is going to like your dance'.

"I obviously don't want her to have her feelings hurt at school," she says. "But you do need to be prepared that not everyone in the world is going to like you and that's fine.

"Not everyone likes Beyonce, which, to me, is unfathomable. But it's true."

With such candour, it's little wonder Ryan makes such a brilliant judge on Comedy Central's Roast Battle.

Returning for a second series, the show - based on the US smash hit, Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle - will once again see a mixture of top comedians and new faces going head to head in an attempt to 'take down' their opponent.

While host Jimmy Carr makes his welcome return, Ryan will be joined by a new face on the judging panel, in the form of Jonathan Ross.

"It's such a perfect gig for Jonathan Ross because he's really respected by all the comedians," Ryan reasons. "They all want to sit on the couch and be on The Jonathan Ross Show one day and they've grown up watching him.

"And he's really funny," she says. "I think we forget, because he's Mr Late Night, that he can be really edgy and really cutting as well."

As for the war of words between battlers - this season's line-up includes Chris Ramsey, Angela Barnes, Alex Brooker and Rosie Jones - Ryan calls it a "language of love".

"In Roast Battle, a lot of the pairings are either partners - we have a lot of people who are dating - or best friends," she reveals. "So they have a pre-existing rapport and there's a lot of camaraderie on stage."

But importantly, roasting is about the demonstration of consent, she states: "It would be horrible to say those things unsolicited to someone on the street, out of context. But when everyone is in on the joke and everyone is consenting, then it's really freeing and fun."

No stranger to a battle herself, how would she fare in competition with Carr and Ross?

"I would lose [against Jimmy]" she confesses of her 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Your Face Or Mine co-star.

"I love and respect him above all others. He's so hard working, so talented, but difficult to roast because what can you say? He self-roasts a lot. He'll say it first and he'll say it better."

As for her fellow judge? "I think I could beat Jonathan, simply because he is a gentlemen, he has daughters and he's very sensitive.

"He wouldn't want to hurt my feelings, but he'd be a fool to think that way because I don't have any feelings and I'd destroy him," she says with an evil laugh.

Next, Ryan will join Carr for new Netflix panel show, The Fix.

Does she ever take time out?

"I do get little chunks off and I just want to stay home, sorting out the house and watering the garden.

"I also have a lot of animals to look after, and at the end of the day I'm head of the household," she says of single parenthood. "So I have to be here or else the fridge would be empty."

The dream would be to try her hand at scripted comedy, she reveals.

"That would be a challenge - like a sitcom - because I've never done that before."

But that's not all. "And one day maybe I'll become a gymnast as well," Ryan says, chuckling. "Who studies? I'll just show up one day."

Roast Battle returns to Comedy Central on Monday, October 1.