'Ray D'Arcy is too old for the Late Late Show', says former host Pat Kenny
Former RTE stalwart Pat Kenny has claimed Ray D'Arcy is "too old" to take over the Late Late Show.
Ray (50) is set to host his new Saturday night slot from September but Pat doesn't believe he'll be taking over from Ryan Tubridy (42) on Friday nights.
"I don't think Ryan is going anywhere anytime soon and Ray is older than him by quite a stretch," Pat told the Herald.
"I cannot see Ryan going anywhere unless he is plucked from RTE's clutches.
younger
"I think they would go for someone a bit younger than Ray would be in six or seven years time.
"I think that everyone who does the Late Late makes it there own.
"If Dara O'Briain had done it, it would have been more American-style chat show.
"If Vincent Browne took it over it would have been Fossett's circus," he laughed.
Pat (67) took over the Late Late in 1999 when he was 51 and was at the helm for 10 years.
He left RTE in 2013 to front his own radio show on Newstalk.
He also admitted he was surprised his old employer had decided to replace Brendan O'Connor with Ray in the first place.
"I thought Brendan was iconoclastic and cheeky," he said.
"I said at the time I was surprised RTE took him off the air.
"He had been doing better and better, people who hated him at the start were beginning to love him.
"I have no idea why RTE did that. I think Brendan was probably surprised.
"Unless they wanted Ray desperately for radio and they had to get him with the TV aspect," he added.
Pat recently wrapped on the first episodes of Pat Kenny in the Round and admits it could have done better in the ratings.
The show, which airs on UTV Ireland, had mixed success with viewers.
Scottish singer Lulu drew an audience average of 95,000 while former Westlife singer Shane Filan pulled in 143,000 viewers.
"We would have done more episodes if we could have got up and running earlier," Pat said.
"But when you are trying to fashion a set out of the Mansion House that is a big design job.
"All of those things take time. So we got off a little later then intended, otherwise it would have been 10 shows between January and the summer.
"I was very pleased, content wise we did very well - I would have watched them all myself.
speed
"Obviously numbers-wise we could have done better but by the end it was really picking up speed.
"Television is a bit of a habit," he added.
The show is set to return in September and Pat says they have a "blank canvas" with the format.
"We could find us ourselves in a general election and we could end up doing more dramatic things," he said.