EXCLUSIVE: Funny guy, Beau Ryan says 8yo daughter, Remi can out-joke him!
"I love dad jokes and my daughter is at that age where she really appreciates them!"
Beau Ryan is known as a jokester with a quick wit. He’s been bringing the laughs on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and in his roles on The Footy Show and The Amazing Race Australia, and it looks like the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree.
Beau says eight-year-old daughter Remi is a bit of a jokester too!
“She gets me with a dad joke at least once a week!” the 36-year-old former NRL star tells Bounty Parents.
He sat down with Bounty Parents to chat all things fatherhood, lockdown and his new-found love of getting into the kitchen!
Dad-of-two Beau Ryan has upped his cooking game and is keen to help other Aussie dads feel more confident in the kitchen.
What does summer look in the Ryan household?
“In a perfect world, we’d normally have the family over for a BBQ – my parents would come around to our house or we’d head down the coast, we’d spend time in the pool and backyard with the kids and have plenty to eat.
“Obviously with the current restrictions it’s a bit harder, so it’s just the FaceTime parties.”
You were in Lockdown for a while alongside the rest of Sydney What as that like for you guys?
“I was lucky because I could still go into the city to Channel 10 for work so my wife did the majority of the homeschooling with my daughter, Remi – but I’d help out when I got home.
“It’s tricky with my toddler Jesse too, but a little easier when I’m home and we’ve got both parents on deck. Remi’s in Year 3 and it’s hard – we’d dangle the carrot and if she got through all of her work then we’d try to finish her up around 2pm each day.
“At the end of the day, I loved being at home with my kids – I do feel for people that live by themselves because it would be much more difficult being alone. I’m fortunate to have had my family with me because time goes a lot faster.”
I imagine your dad joke game is strong. Got a favourite way to bring a little dork-dad into life at home with Remi and Jesse?
“I love dad jokes and my daughter is at that age where she really appreciates them!
“She likes to hit me with the jokes sometimes, and she gets me with this one at least once a week; she asks me “Do you know the word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?” I’ll say yes, and she’ll say, “Can you spell it?” and I’ll start spelling the word and she will crack up laughing and say “No, I said can you spell ‘it’?!”
“She’s got about three years left until she doesn’t want to hear those jokes anymore!”
You’re working with HelloFresh, has that changed the way you feel about cooking? How?
“Yes, 100 percent! It’s given me more confidence and taken a bit of the weight off my wife’s shoulders too.
“I’ve always enjoyed cooking but it used to be more limited to BBQs, but HelloFresh has given me confidence to do a complete meal from start to finish. They make cooking a breeze by delivering fresh pre-portioned ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes straight to your door.
“There’s a few meals that I’ve learnt that I’ve kept in the bank and been able to go back to and cook again.”
No stranger to leading guys on the football field, Beau Ryan wants to encourage Aussie dads to get into the kitchen.
Any kitchen mishaps so far?
“Before I started using HelloFresh, I got a bit experimental with pasta – I tried to make a creamy boscaiola sauce with bacon and eggs, and it was pretty much scrambled eggs in pasta. The kids weren’t trusting me after that. It rocked me for a while and I was hands off!
“Also, I once read a recipe wrong while trying to make a marinade with various sauces – the recipe said to “cover everything in water,” but I read it completely wrong and just covered it with glad wrap instead of adding water to the mixture so all the ingredients were covered, so it didn’t marinade properly. When we got to the end, my wife was like “what are you doing?!”
Word on the street is that you’re partial to Lebanese Cuisine, including Kibbe Nayyeh, which is essentially a dish of raw meat. Any other controversial food choices that tickle your fancy?
“We love Lebanese food – my wife and I probably have the Kibbe Nayyeh at least once a fortnight. Done right, it’s the best meal! We also like Kousa, which is a Lebanese zucchini hollowed out and filled with rice and meat. We love all the rich, authentic, traditional Lebanese foods!
“We have close friends who are Lebanese so my wife has learned to prepare a few traditional meals that can sometimes take half a day to do. Many moons ago, we’d have our friends over and we’d all prepare a dish and that would be our Sunday.”
Kids can be notoriously vicious critics of home cooking, how have you been navigating that?
“My son is the big critic – before he tries anything new, he will already decide he doesn’t like it. We need to dress up the meals, make it inviting and ‘pretty’ for him. It sounds funny, but it’s the only way we can get him to eat it. Anything that looks a little overcooked or burnt, he won’t go near.
“Both my kids love carbs – rice, potato, pasta – so when we select our meals for the week we often pick HelloFresh dishes that include these. The best part is – they’re all stacked with veggies!”
Nearly half of Aussie dads wish they contributed more to the household cooking, you got any hot tips for helping them get started?
“I would recommend HelloFresh to any dad wanting to play a more active role in the kitchen because it gives you the confidence to prepare quick, nutritious and delicious meals the whole family will enjoy.
“The recipe steps are super easy to follow too. In my life – myself, my mates, my dad – we like everything that is simple and pretty straight-forward, and once you’ve learned how to prepare these simple meals, you can go back and cook it again – add it to your repertoire!”
