Ryan Tubridy has shared the “heartfelt” message that Gay Byrne’s daughters sent him ahead of his final night hosting The Late Late Show.
Ryan is set to front the weekly talk show for the last time ever this evening after he announced he would be leaving back in March, with Patrick Kielty set to take over in September.
Speaking on his RTÉ Radio 1 show on Friday morning, Ryan said: “I’ve had the loveliest messages from everyone and I’m really indebted to Gays’ daughters Crona and Suzie who sent me really, really thoughtful, heartfelt messages.
“I had a lovely chat with Pat Kenny this morning before I came on air as well before he went on air on his show. There’s a real warmth in the Late Late Show host family club about it.”
Ryan went on to talk about the last 14 years hosting The Late Late Show and the joy it brought him and how grateful he is to have had the opportunity.
Ryan continued: “I’ll say later on: I did my best, and I was surrounded by great people and all those teams year in and year out, it meant a lot to me. They work very hard, and I’m grateful to them too.
“I think I know pretty much everything that’s happening. They just said that ‘There’s a bit of business here, and a bit of business there,’ which is code for: ‘We’re not telling you.”
“So, we’ll see – there’s gonna be some lovely reunions; we’re gonna meet some people that I’ve admired and loved to meet down through the years.
“We had our international fun with Ed Sheeran and Michael Bublé and Hillary Clinton and Noel Gallagher in recent weeks, so I think we’re going to shop local this week and bring in all our friends that we’ve known and have a sort of… kitchen party, does that make sense? We’re all the good stuff happens.”
Ryan took over the show in 2009 from Pat Kenny, who fronted the show for 10 years from 1999, with Gay Byrne originally hosting it prior, starting in 1962.
