‘KATHERINE IS A MONEY-SPENDING JUGGERNAUT!’
Two worlds collide as luxury-loving Katherine Ryan and penny-pinching fellow comedian Joe Wilkinson travel the UK and Europe on a shoestring
Joe Wilkinson and Katherine Ryan hit it off immediately when they first met more than a decade ago on the stand-up comedy circuit. But while the comedians’ sense of humour is a match made in heaven, they are like chalk and cheese when it comes to their lifestyles – as their new show demonstrates.
In Joe & Katherine’s Bargain Holidays, the pals travel through Europe and the UK on a shoestring budget. But with penny-pinching Joe committed to the cause and luxury-loving Katherine having to reluctantly cast aside her champagne lifestyle, there’s plenty of friction and banter along the way.
“You get Katherine on a roll spending money and it’s hard to stop.
She’s a money-spending juggernaut,” reveals Joe.
“But I think she softened through every episode and she embraced everything.
She gave it all a go, even if it wasn’t her cup of tea. But I do worry that I haven’t completely changed her.”
Katherine says her preference for five-star hotels is entirely justified, given how hard she works. When the pair visit Northern Ireland, the cheeky Canadian star even finds time to flog a few copies of her memoir in the airport.
“I’m never off the clock. I’m always working so that I don’t have to penny-pinch like Joe,” she says. “Sometimes, Joe’s idea of saving money would take hours. That’s time that he could have been earning money by working!”
Highlights of the six-part series include the pals serenading each other on a Norfolk break and taking a hair-raising bobsleigh ride in Latvia.
The pair discover the best budget resorts, review value-for-money restaurants and things to do, and reveal their best tips, tricks and hacks for a cut-price itinerary.
Along the way, Katherine’s penchant for the finer things in life often throws a spanner in the works. “I think she likes the feeling of money slipping out of her fingers,” says Joe.
So, after travelling with his high-maintenance buddy, would he consider a budget-blowing five-star all-inclusive resort for his next holiday?
“I don’t like spending money where I don’t have to. It grates on me if I do,” he says.
“I couldn’t enjoy a holiday if I’d spent over the odds, because I’d just be bringing it up all the time. I like the word all-inclusive, five star just freaks me out a little bit… but give me time.”