Ryan Tubridy thanks wellwishers who have stopped him ‘on the street, in the shop or in the pub’ since departure announcement

The broadcaster, who has presented the show for 14 years, announced last Thursday that he would be stepping down in May.

Speaking this morning on his daily radio show on RTÉ Radio One, Mr Tubridy said he is “very happy” that the news is now public.

He thanked everyone who has gotten in touch to wish him well on his departure.

“Very briefly on my decision to leave the Late Late Show, I’ve got ten more shows, very neat,” he said on RTÉ Radio 1.

“But just to say first of all, if you have my number and if you’ve texted or WhatsApped me, my apologies if I haven’t got back to you, it’s been busy.

“Secondly, if you’ve stopped me on the street or in the shop or in the pub in the last 48 hours, thank you.

“People have been so very, very kind and I really appreciate it because it was a surprise decision for a lot of people.

“I’m very relieved today, I feel very liberated, not because I was in any way incarcerated but I just mean in the sense that that decision is out there now and I’m just very happy that that’s out there in the universe.”

Tubridy said the conversation has now rightly turned to who his successor will be, and he looks forward to tuning in.

He also told listeners that he will not be leaving his radio show any time soon.

“Very quickly after I announced the decision, the conversation beautifully turned to who’s next, and I thought, ‘and off you go’ and good luck,” he said.

“And I mean that, it’s really positive, it’s somebody else's turn now, and I hope they’re going to be brilliant.

“They won’t need advice from me, they need to do it their own way and I’m sure whoever that person will be, they’ll be great.

“I look forward to watching the show on Friday night, if I’m not out, which I also intend doing.

“Career wise, I’m just changing lanes, but I’m still moving. I’m not leaving the radio show today or tomorrow, I love it here as well so, hang in there.”