RTE stars Ryan Tubridy and Gay Byrne have paid tribute to Terry Wogan, who died after a short illness.
While the Irish presenter made waves in the UK thanks to a stellar career on radio and TV for the BBC, hosts Ryan and Gay said it was a sad day for Ireland too.
“We became quiet friendly in the last five years,” Ryan said on The Dave Fanning Show on 2FM.
“Largely because I was kind of his fill in on his Sunday morning programme on occasion. We were in contact quite a bit.”
Tribute: Ryan said Terry was ‘incredibly important’ to him
“We had the most memorable, intriguing, enjoyable fascinating lunch with this guy who I was pretty much in awe with,” he added.
“He would have been incredibly important to me as a kid.”
Ryan also admits that just before Christmas he was worried Terry was ill. “I had a horrible feeling he was very unwell.”
Meanwhile Gay Byrne spoke about Terry’s early days in RTE, saying he was the most popular presenter in Europe at the time.
Listen to the interview with Ryan and Gay here: