Where did that person go for all those years? Is that the sacrifice?ĭue to the string of high-profile “Nos”, the job of The Late Late Show host has become somewhat toxic – a stigma, not a status. He’d become like a politician – all politically correct and eggshell-walking – and now he’s having the craic and laughing again, and saying what he thinks. Since he announced he was off he’s like his old self again. It’s not a great advertisement for taking over the role. In the past month, Tubs has the look of a lad nearing the end of his sentence. “How long have I got left on this earth? Do I want to spend it continuing to do this?” It became like a punishment, in later years, getting near the end. He said: “I was there six and a half days a week and it became a jail. In fact, the late, legendary Gay Byrne said as much after he left, saying: “It became like a jail.” Tubridy can’t go out the door without being pestered for selfies and stopped by everyone and commented on, heckled and harassed – and that’s at the lesser end of the scale.Īnyone who ever worked on The Late Late Show will tell you their lives are dominated by the show and even on the Friday itself, it’s a 14-hour shift.īeing at the helm of the Late Late Show is something of a prison sentence. Personally, I wouldn’t do it for a million euro a year. I doubt anyone in the national broadcaster expected that – but some of us are not so surprised. It’s a reject.įirst Miriam O’Callaghan excused herself, then Claire Byrne said: thanks, but no thanks, and now Sarah McInerney has politely declined.

Instead, it’s the “biggest job in television” that nobody wants.

When Ryan Tubridy announced he was stepping down as presenter after 14 years, it was assumed there’d be a scramble for the role. Another day, another RTE star ruling themselves out of the race to be the next Late Late Show host.

Coming Home by Alexa Land