Ryan Tubridy has wished his successor of the Late Late Show well, "whoever she may be".
The 49-year-old announced his departure from the show on Thursday, marking the end of a 14 year stint as presenter. Fellow RTE stars Claire Byrne and Miriam O'Callaghan have emerged as early favourites to take over the gig in the autumn.
Opening tonight's Late Late Show, Tubs made a reference to the high odds of a female presenter taking over from him, joking: "I want to wish my successor, whoever she may be, the very best of luck. Honestly, I jest, but good luck to whoever is next, I'll be supporting them."
Read more: RTE's Claire Byrne overtakes Miriam O’Callaghan as favourite to host the Late Late Show
He also said he has been "blown away" by the support he has received since announcing he is stepping away from the show.
"The truth of it is, in life sometimes you make a decision on the basis of your gut and my gut is based on when you know, you know," he said. "It feels right and I've been really blown away by the good wishes from people over the past few days.
"I'm very heartened and grateful and I wasn't to say thank you to everyone who has been in touch. It's been a real privilege to be with you every Friday night and to be the custodian of this great institution for the past 14 years.
"I've met some of the most inspiring people and I've made some wonderful friends."
Tubridy also gave a special mention to the children who starred on the Toy Show over the years, describing it as "one of the great nights". He said: "They're amazing kids, many of them now young men and women and thank you to them.
"To the Irish public, to you at home, time after time I was especially bowled over by your generosity raising millions of euro for those who need it. That's really something we can be very proud of.
"I played a part in that but it was small. Thank you for staying with me and with us on the show."
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