Ryan Tubridy opened up about leaving RTÉ earlier this year for the first time.
He is set to join Virgin Radio UK in the new year after it was confirmed that he would not be returning to RTÉ Radio 1 following controversy surrounding hidden payments made to him over six years.
The host made a surprise appearance on Doireann Garrihy’s Laughs of your Life podcast this week where he spoke about “six per cent” of his RTÉ departure.
Speaking about his decision to leave The Late Late Show, Ryan admitted that he felt “joy, relief and absolute comfort in [his] decision”.
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“I was so happy I chose to go when I did. It was a little earlier than I was contractually obliged to go but I knew in my heart [it was time to go].
“I heard before from certain presenters that ‘if you’re not feeling it, don’t stick around.’ And I started to not feel it. If I stuck around for another season, it would have been unfair to the team, to the viewers, to myself.”
He admitted that he was “out of juice” when it came to presenting the show. Adding that it was the COVID-19 pandemic that “took so much out of” him.
Reflecting on his final weeks on the Late Late, he recalled Paul McCartney sending him a message, doing a duet with Michael Bublé and getting gifted a guitar by Ed Sheeran.
As for his final show, he confessed to “a little tear” as he bid farewell to the role.
He then confessed that he tries not to focus on leaving RTÉ as he prefers to focus on the future.
“The future is so bright, now, but I couldn’t see that for a long while there recently,” he told Doireann before explaining that it was his family and perspective that got him through it all.
“Family, I don’t need to go on about them. They’re great, so knock-out,” he added, explaining that his mother offered to go to the Oireachtas hearing with him as he described it as “Christmas morning flipped”.
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He also described that viewers and listeners have always been a great support to him, explaining: “I have three plastic boxes full of cards…People are really invested in my story, for better or for worse. Mostly better and that’s what the cards are.”
Discussing his move to London, he admitted that it will be hard but now that his daughters are 24 and 18 they are urging him to go.
“They’re going, ‘Go. To. London. Get a two-bedroom flat and we will see you alot.’,” he confessed.
Despite what happened to him, Ryan confessed that it is “the best thing that ever happened to me”.
“I always wanted to go over to London and explore radio and TV over there. But I never did it. I was thinking about it, I was I was ‘maybe somedaying’ my life away. Once the dark clouds dissipated for decision-making and purposeful planning, the offers started to roll in.
“There’s no bitterness, but it’s time to change,” he added.
