this worked for me
function exclude_post_categories($excl='', $spacer=' '){
$categories = get_the_category($post->ID);
if(!empty($categories)){
$exclude=$excl;
$exclude = explode(",", $exclude);
$thecount = count(get_the_category()) - count($exclude);
foreach ($categories as $cat) {
$html = '';
if(!in_array($cat->cat_ID, $exclude)) {
$html .= '<a href="' . get_category_link($cat->cat_ID) . '" ';
$html .= 'title="' . $cat->cat_name . '">' . $cat->cat_name . '</a>';
if($thecount>1){
$html .= $spacer;
}
$thecount--;
echo $html;
}
}
}
}
Format like
<?php exclude_post_categories('1,5',', '); ?>