Katherine Ryan claims alleged TV predator is a ‘perpetrator of sexual assault’ in shock interview

Katherine Ryan has claimed the celebrity ‘predator’ she accused in an on-set confrontation has committed sexual assault.

In a heightening of her previous statements about the unnamed well-known star, Canada-born comic Ryan said even discussing the matter was ‘very dangerous’.

She told Louis Theroux in a new interview: ‘This person I believe very strongly – so do a lot of people believe very strongly as an open secret – is a perpetrator of sexual assault’, The Sun reported.

The new episode of Louis Theroux Interviews with Katherine Ryan airs on BBC2 on Tuesday

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Ms Ryan, 39, added: ‘I in front of loads of people, in the format of the show, said to this person’s face that they were a predator, loads of times. I informed him to his face that he was a predator.’

Challenged by Theroux on why she hasn’t publicly named the person and possibly protecting future victims, Ryan said: ‘It is very dangerous for us to have this conversation, I’m happy to have it, but it is a litigious minefield.

Canada-born Ryan has made Britain her home

‘Because lots of people have tried to nail this person down for their alleged crimes, and this person has very good lawyers, so am I going to put my mortgage on the line by saying who this person is, or entering into any conversations like that?

‘We’ve seen what happens to people who talk about alleged predators, I mean it’s not really my story to tell, no one has perpetrated any sexual assaults against me.’

Ryan in June made the courageous revelation that there is what she considers to be an abuser working in the television industry during an interview with fellow comic Sara Pascoe, who she says is also aware of the man’s identity.

Miss Pascoe also revealed that she had reported a male celebrity to a television channel after receiving a phone call from a viewer who claimed to have been raped by him.

Miss Pascoe, 41, said: ‘Have you ever done a job and then someone’s contacted you and said, “That’s my rapist”?

‘I had it on a job recently where I’ve had to go to the channel, and it’s that whole thing because you feel such a sense of responsibility but you also want it to be dealt with well… it’s so complicated.’

Since 2017, several high-profile British celebrities have been the subject of MeToo allegations.

Separately, more than 10,000 current and former secondary school students in the UK have shared their experiences of sexual harassment and rape culture anonymously on the website Everyone’s Invited.