Ryan Tubridy has told Late Late Show viewers that the airtime for tonight's show may be impacted by Joe Biden's planned visit to Ballina in Co Mayo.
Ryan, who is on the home stretch of his time as host of the iconic RTE chat show, conceded that Friday's Late Late Show may be forced to air later than the scheduled time of 9.35pm, depending on how the US President's speech in Mayo plays out.
Much of President Biden's itinerary during his trip to Ireland has been delayed for a wide variety of reasons so it's very possible that his speech in Ballina, which be broadcast on RTE One, could impact the start time of The Late Late Show.
READ MORE - RTE's Ryan Tubridy hits out at media coverage of Joe Biden's visit to Ireland
Biden is scheduled to speak in Mayo at approximately 9.15pm and any delays would likely require The Late Late Show, which airs weekly at 9.35pm, to be pushed out.
Speaking to his RTE Radio One listeners this morning, Ryan explained: "When he gets there [to Ballina] he's going to be doing lots of stuff.
"I've been glued to the wonderful coverage over the past few days and I've realised one thing - he can't turn down an extended hand to shake.
"When every hand in the country wants to shake that hand, pretty much, that means every diary, plan and schedule is put into a enormous shredder marked POTUS because nothing is going to happen on time.
"That's the way it is because he wants to meet everyone. He doesn't just want to meet the so-called posh people or so-called important people, he wants to meet everyone because he believes everyone is important."
Among the guests for this weekend's Late Late Show are Hozier, Bob Odenkirk and Stefanie Preissner, who may have to be kept waiting to join Ryan on the sofa.
Ryan has seen first-hand how delays have been commonplace during Biden's time in Ireland and advised viewers that tonight's show "will be contingent" on what time Biden gets to the podium to deliver his speech.
"Now they say it could be 9.15pm but having been at Leinster House yesterday it could also be 11.15pm, or 10.30pm," he said, adding, "We're standing by with some guests going, 'I'm terribly sorry can I offer you another 7up there while you're waiting?' The audience will also have to be fed and watered. We'll be handing out popcorn and water.
"We don't know what time we're going to be on at because we're live we have to wait and see, so who knows? Either way it's all for good reason because it's a historical visit."
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