Ryan Tubridy recently confirmed his move to London to host a brand new mid-morning show on Virgin Radio.
It comes just months after the 50-year-old lost his RTÉ Radio 1 slot, amid the ongoing payments scandal.
We’ve taken a look back at Ryan’s career to date:
Ryan began is career in broadcasting at the young age of 12, reviewing books for RTÉ 2FM’s Poporama.
After receiving a BA degree in History and Greek and Roman Civilisation from UCD, he became a runner in RTÉ, where he initially worked on The Gerry Ryan Show.
He later worked as a reporter for Today with Pat Kenny and occasionally hosted news show Five Seven Live.
In 1999, he presented Morning Glory, before moving to The Sunday Show; he later moved to The Full Irish.
In 2006, Ryan began presenting The Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio 1 which he finished in 2010.
He later presented a radio show titled Tubridy, before he starting hosting his current RTÉ Radio 1 show The Ryan Tubridy Show in 2015.
In terms of television, the broadcaster began hosting his own live Saturday night talk show Tubridy Tonight.
In May 2009, it was announced that Ryan would take over from Pat Kenny as host of The Late Late Show.
Ryan brought back Gay Byrne’s iconic “one for everybody in the audience” catchphrase, which was disused by Pat.
The broadcaster’s first Late Late Show guest was former Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
In March 2012, Ryan impressively made his debut on American TV during which he discussed his book JFK in Ireland.
He released his second book, The Irish Are Coming, in 2013.
Earlier this year, Ryan rocked the Irish showbiz world when he announced his shock decision to step down as Late Late Show host.
The presenter hosted his final episode of RTÉ’s flagship programme on Friday, May 26, with Patrick Kielty helming the show for its 61st season.
Just weeks after his final Late Late Show hosting gig, it emerged that his earnings were publicly understated by €345,000 over the last six years.
Ryan was subsequently pulled from RTÉ’s airwaves.
Negotiations over his RTÉ radio contract had been put on hold amid the ongoing payment scandal, but RTÉ boss Kevin Bakhurst then confirmed that they had resumed in August.
While Ryan’s return to RTÉ had seemed promising, Mr Bakhurst ceased negotiations with the presenter after he released a statement addressing the second Grant Thornton report.
Speaking on Prime Time, Mr Bakhurst confirmed they were “very close” to an agreement before Ryan’s statement.
The RTÉ boss said: “I don’t actually feel Ryan was best served by the people around him who advised him on making that statement.”
“I felt we were in a good place. We had a core agreement for Ryan to come back and the statement issued, which, you know, once again, questioned the newly stated salaries, which are correct.
“I just think for the sake of rebuilding trust, which is my focus with the organisation, we can’t afford to be questioning the facts that are out there.”
He also confirmed a salary of €170,000 had been agreed, and that Ryan was supposed to return to his radio show on September 4.
Kevin continued: “I think part of the discussion throughout with me and Ryan Tubridy have been about the need to take responsibility on both sides, and RTE has taken responsibility, has born the vast majority of responsibility, for what went wrong here.”
“But I also felt it was important that Ryan himself owned a certain amount of responsibility for this, and we had some discussions about that, and that was important.”
“I think the statement yesterday muddied the waters somewhat, and I think it’s really important that Grant Thronton and the RTE board restated the earnings correctly for those years, and I don’t think it helps to undermine that. We need to all accept the restated earnings, that is the fact of it.”
Ryan’s statement addressing the second Grant Thornton report read: “I welcome the findings of the Grant Thornton Report, published today. I also welcome the report’s findings that I did not claim €120,000 in fees which was due to me in 2020 and that I did not agree with how RTE proposed to account for this decision.”
“It is also clear that my actual income from RTE in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published as my earnings for those years and RTE has not yet published its top ten earner details for 2022.”
He added: “I repeat my offer to publish the details of any future RTE contract. I am committed to re-establishing the confidence and trust of my colleagues and listeners, and I hope that any fair assessment of the findings of today’s report will help in this regard.”
“Finally, I want to acknowledge the huge support that I have received in recent weeks from people across the country; many cards and letters, greetings on the street and words of support from people I bumped into meant an awful lot to me and I appreciate them all very much.”
The next day, RTÉ boss Kevin Bakhurst released a statement confirming Ryan wouldn’t be returning to his radio role.
“We went into negotiations with Ryan in good faith and in the hopes of reaching an agreement that would see Ryan return to his RTÉ Radio 1 show. I have decided not to continue with negotiations and, as such, there are no plans for Ryan to return to his presenting role with RTÉ at this time,” he said.
“Despite having agreed some of the fundamentals, including fee, duration and hours, regretfully, it is my view that trust between the parties has broken down.”
“Public statements made without consultation appear to question the basis for the necessary restatement of fees paid for services for 2020 and 2021.”
Ryan is not set to begin hosting a new show on Virgin Radio on Thursday, January 4.
The 50-year-old will present the show on weekdays between 10am and 1pm.
