Ryan Tubridy said there is ‘no escape’ from fans worldwide as he opened up on the reality of being one of the most famous men in Ireland.
As the Late Late Show host and one of the leading names on Irish radio, the broadcaster is RTE’s highest paid star, earning €495,000 in his last publicly reported pay packet in 2019.
But with great status comes great responsibility, and for Ryan he admits that means he has to be ‘on’ no matter where in the world he goes.
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The star, who is just back after his summer holiday in Iceland told the Irish Daily Mirror/Star: “Everywhere, yes.
“I was in Iceland and a guy said ‘Tubs welcome to Reykjavik’ and I said ‘Are you joking, like of all the places, I thought…[laughed]”
“I’ve gone to strange countries, and just... there is no escape. The Late Late Show is quite a thing. New York is hilarious, I’ve been to New York and down in the subways, and had ‘what are you doing here Tubs’ and yeah it’s everywhere.”
Asked if there is anywhere he can go unnoticed, he joked: “I have a really nice couch.”
But the seasoned star, 49, who is preparing to begin his 14th series as the Late Late Show host in September insists he has no qualms about the lack of privacy that has come from his professional success.
“I am actually okay with it,” he quipped in his typical jolly form.
“I love my job, and I love the people so it is fine.
“And if I want to turn off I can.
“I went to see Elvis last week and I cried at the end, and I’m not a crier, so that was great. I loved it.
“And so the cinema is my getaway, and also my house. I have a lovely warm house, so I sit there, and turn the world off and shut the door behind me.”
He added: “I’ve got my books and my movies and politics, so I am good at distracting myself. I know what to do.”
The father-of-two, who has spent the past few weeks out and about around the country visiting many of his interviewees, including Toy Show star Saoirse Ruane, also told of the joys the job brings him - particularly the people it has brought into his life.
“And that’s why I go to meet these people. It’s not just enough to write the story, or just talk in the studio, like it grows a life, like I feel like Saoirse is a niece of mine now nearly, and that lovely couple I met today, we may as well be cousins.
“And it is not glib, sometimes stories just become more than your job, and more than just stories.
“And it feels meaningful and good and people are very responsive to that so it is great to see.”
It comes after Ryan fulfilled his promise to visit the young Toy Show star’s home with her and her friends and family, after she underwent major surgery to remove a tumour in her lung.
“I got down to see Saoirse Ruane in Galway last week and I left Galway, I actually didn’t even drive home, I floated home with a cloud on my back because it was so gorgeous, and I got to go to her school and house and celebrated her dads birthday and I mean this is great what a joy.”
He also took a trip to Mullingar this week to visit grieving couple John and Joanna O'Hara, who joined him on his radio show to talk about the heartbreaking loss of their beloved eldest son, Niall.
He said: “I mean that lovely couple whose son died by suicide at 20-years old and they are doing a walk along the canal in Mullingar and the when show ended I said lads I have a couple of hours free, let’s go. And we didn’t tell them, we just went down and hunted them on the canal, and we hugged each other and cried and I met their sons and neighbours and it was just everything the pandemic wasn’t. It was kind and full of heart and uplifting and that was lovely.”
Speaking at the launch of Charlie Bird’s new book, Climb with Charlie, the host, who has been a central part of the campaign, went on: “In some ways this whole thing began on the Late Late Show when Charlie was in a bad way and said ‘I just want to climb a mountain’ and he came in and saw us then after that and he was a different man.
“You could see it in him today, there is joy. The whole thing, it was all meant to be. So it has become a story of great sadness to a story of great joy and today is about joy.”
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