- Ryan threw himself into work following his fathers death
Ryan Tubridy has spoken about how difficult he found it to be “entertaining” after the passing of his father. Ryan’s Dad Pat, passed away two years ago and he admits his death had a huge effect on him.
“It’s hard being in the public eye when you’ve had such an enormous loss, because you’re sad and it took a long time to process, yet you have to be ‘on’ and you have to be there and somewhat entertaining,” he said.
“That was difficult, but that’s the job and I understand that.”
Since his father’s death, the tv and radio star has a new found empathy for people going through a bereavement, “I care more now, and that’s a good thing.” he said.
While the host is set to move back to his old slot at 9am on RTE Radio One in the coming weeks, he admitted it “seems the right time to go back. It has gone up five times in figures, which is a real buzz for someone as nerdy as me.”
Speaking about the past couple of years, Ryan recalls the strife he encountered and in particular during the beginning of his career as a radio host.
“The figures weren’t doing great, The Late Late Show was doing only okay and my confidence might have taken a bit of a bashing.But then things took a turn. It comes back to that 40 thing again. I got a grip, I re- assessed, re-booted almost and re-engaged and it worked.”
Meanwhile, the radio host has has revealed that he hopes The Late Late Show does better than Ray D’Arcy’s upcoming chat show.
Ray D’Arcy is returning to TV for his new Saturday Night show, with Ryan admitting there’s always a sense of “competitiveness” in showbiz.
“It’s the rough and tumble of showbiz – there’s always competitiveness,” he said. “I would be competitive with whatever is on, regardless of who it is.”
“That’s why I welcome Ray. I say, ‘Go for it and we hope to do better than you,’” he told The RTE Guide.
The Late Late Show will return to our screens this Friday on RTÉ One at 9.35pm.
