Claire Byrne has revealed she’d love to host The Late Late Show if the opportunity ever came about – but hopes Ryan Tubridy will continue to front the show for quite some time.
The broadcaster enjoys watching Ryan on the Friday night chat show, but would never turn down the chance to front it herself.
Speaking on the Human Nature podcast, Claire said, “Someone told me one time, ‘never say you don’t want to do The Late Late Show, that’s a bad career move.’
“I also think it’s a bit rude to talk about somebody else’s job, you know and talk about wanting that job.
“I wouldn’t rule it out, but at the same time I’m not going to cry if it never happens, and I think Ryan is very, very good at it and he’ll be there for a long time.
“I’m not going to die unhappy if I don’t ever do The Late Late Show, put it like that. But if it came my way, I’m not going to say no, because I’m not an eejit.”
Earlier this year, Miriam O’Callaghan became the first woman to ever present the show as she filled in for Ryan Tubridy while he was off sick.
Speaking to VIP Magazine, she said, “I was live on Prime Time on the Thursday night before, and I got a missed call from the producer of The Late Late.
“I had no idea why she was phoning. I rang her back and she just said, ‘Ryan is ill, and he’s asked would you consider doing The Late Late tomorrow’, and she was like, ‘Take your time to think about it’. I think I might have paused for all of three seconds and said, ‘I’d love to’ [laughs]!”
She added, “In normal circumstances, if you knew you were presenting The Late Late you’d probably be thinking for months beforehand about what you might wear and who’d do your hair!
“I just rang up Catherine from wardrobe and said, ‘What’s on my rail?’ And she said, ‘The navy jumpsuit you’ve worn loads of times’, and I said, ‘Fine!’ And then I went home and told Steve, ‘I’m presenting The Late Late tomorrow’ and he was like, ‘What?’
“Of course, people were saying it took a pandemic for history to be made with the first woman presenting! But yes, it did feel a bit special.”