Ryan Tubridy has defended the Late Late Show following harsh criticism this weekend.
Instead of the regular Friday night chat show, RTE bosses opted to instead air a Valentine’s special, however not all viewers were impressed.
While over half a million people tuned into the show, RTE received 10 formal complaints, a number of phone-calls and emails, as well as backlash online after it had been broadcast.
Speaking about the fiasco, Ryan told his listeners on RTE Radio One this morning , “The show actually went down very well and it got 46 percent share which is enormous and which is a very, very good result indeed.
“Yes of course a number of people complained but actually bigger numbers watched it and seemed to enjoy it and the story that seems to have emerged from that programme is that, well to me, it’s a tale of two Irelands.
“One Ireland is full of under 50s who thought it was a hoot and another Ireland full of over 50s who thought a little less of it in that sense.
He continued, “The bottom line is we do 37 Late Late shows in a season, one we go bananas and that was Friday night and it was great fun.
“In another we play with toys and we act like children and that goes down very well indeed.
“And another one coming up down the tracks will be the country show and some people will hate that because they don’t like country and some people will love it because they love country.
“You’ll lose a few heads watching some of them and you’ll gain a few watching others and that’s what it is.”
Catch the show each Friday night on RTE at 9.35pm.
