Tubridy puts himself in frame for 'Late Late'
Presenters Ryan Tubridy and Sinead Desmond with nominees Cecelia Ahern (left), Kathryn Thomas (second right) and Cathy Kelly (right) at the launch of the Irish Book Awards.
Wednesday April 01 2009
He ducked and he dived and he tried to avoid the question, but finally chat show host Ryan Tubridy admitted: "I'd love to work Friday nights."
If RTE didn't know Tubridy was in the running for presenting the 37-year-old 'Late Late Show', they do now. But the presenter said yesterday there would be be no "battle royale" with other presenters for the plum role.
Speaking about the other main contender for the job soon to be vacated by Pat Kenny, Tubridy said: "I met Miriam O'Callaghan out at RTE today and I said 'howya' and we had a good laugh at it.
"She is very civilised professional who I absolutely admire and it's not phoney baloney plamas. We both genuinely know, look, 'we're in the middle of this thing' so we acknowledge it, so it's not some sort of battle royale or something like that.
"So I'm not contemplating anything other than my immediate future and that's 'Tubridy Tonight' and that's where I am and I love it so I would be very loathe to give it up ... but Fridays would be nice."
Bookmakers Paddy Power have made Tubridy their 2/1 favourite to succeed Kenny in the 'Late Late' hotseat, but some insiders are said to favour a female presenter.
Tubridy, speaking at the Westbury Hotel in Dublin, said that he was "completely flabbergasted" by Pat Kenny's decision to announce on air last Friday his departure from the 'Late Late Show'.
The 35-year-old presenter, who was once a reporter for Kenny's radio show, said: "I got a phone call to tell me that Pat was off and I was taken aback because I thought there was a bit more life in the show with Pat yet and I thought it was doing very well.
Classy
"It was a very classy exit and he's going to his natural millieu of current affairs and good luck to him, he has consistently topped the ratings. You can't knock that."
Though he didn't explicitly say he wanted the 'Late Late' job, Tubridy left little room for doubt when he added: "Ambition is a dirty word in this country. It's not in America. I think people who want to do things should be allowed to and if you fail, you fail, move on and do something else."
Commenting on the 'Late Late Show' itself, Tubridy said he grew up on it and added: "I think it's now a show that has to be considered evolutionary. I think it now has to be considered the 'Late Late Show' with ... as opposed to just the 'Late Late Show', and that is something that needs to be considered by whoever's name goes up above the door."
- Ciaran Byrne
