On your marks, mums! Applications for Late Late Toy Show tickets are open

They're the most coveted tickets in town but if you're not in, you can't win.

Mums, it's a firm favourite every year with kids and parents alike and never fails to put the family in a festive mood so we're delighted that The Late Late Toy Show is only a few weeks away. The regional auditions drew to a close earlier this week and now host, Ryan Tubridy, has announced that you can apply for tickets to the extra special show as of today. Last year there were more than 140,000 applications for the Little Mermaid themed programme and a staggering 1.2 million people tuned in from couches across the country. It also went international, as people all around the world were able to tune into the iconic show on RTE Player. This year's theme has yet to be announced, but ahead of the show, Ryan expressed his excitement:

"I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am for this year’s Toy Show. I want to wish everyone the very best of luck, and who knows, I could be seeing you on the 30 of November for the most magical night of the year."

As always, tickets are allocated by a lottery system and you can apply here. Ryan was live on Facebook earlier and jokingly warned people not to ask him for the elusive golden tickets:

"So here's the deal, when you see me shopping in SuperValu don't ask me for those tickets, I don't have them. When you see me walking by the seaside, I don't have them. When you see me trying to order a pint in the public-house, I don't have them. I don't carry them, I'm sorry. Refeusal might cause offence. You gotta apply for them online."

While you'd need to get a babysitter for the night as only adults are allowed to attend as studio audience members, no doubt you'd come home with plenty of goodies for the kids. Christmas would definitely come early then!