Ryan Tubridy: 'I was glad Ray D'Arcy QUIT Today FM – now he's not my competition'

Ryan Tubridy has revealed he celebrated when he discovered his rival Ray D’Arcy was no more.

The 2FM presenter admitted he wasn’t “mourning” after the former Today FM presenter swapped his morning slot for a new afternoon gig at RTE.

He told Goss.ie: “I welcome the departure of major competition from any channel at any time. Who wouldn’t?

“If Pepsi suddenly heard that Coca Cola had collapsed, they wouldn’t exactly be in mourning.”

Working hard: Ryan is very focused on his 2FM show | VIPIRELAND.COM

But Ryan – who said the show has been text by a lot of ex-D’Arcy listeners to say they’ve now swapped over to him – has wished Anton luck.

Tubs admitted he especially feels for him after being in the exact same position when Gerry Ryan passed away and he was handed the slot.

“Everyone is just trying to make good radio. Because I was in Anton’s position – I know him down through the years as well,” he explained.

“I did text him when he got the part because I would do that with anyone. I like Anton, and I’ve had dealings with him down through the years. I’ve always found him to be gentlemanly and a good guy.

Support: Ryan wishes Anton well with his new show

“And I know what it’s like to be in his position, in a startup like that. And it’s not easy,” he told Goss.ie.

“But I’m not one of these people who looks over a wall all angry, I just say: good luck to us all.”

But Tubridy revealed he definitely won’t be taking his foot off the gas now D’Arcy is gone.

“Obviously that would be really bad to take my foot off the gas. That would be a terrible mistake to make,” he insisted.

No more competition: Ryan is glad Ray is on his side now

“The fact is that there is a new voice somewhere else, and that can only serve to make us up the game.

“Because we feel that if people who don’t regularly listen to us and curious – they are no trigger-friendly with the dial – we want them to know that this is their new home.

“So with that in mind, we have to up the game rather than take the foot off the gas. It’s the very opposite.

“So it doesn’t matter who is at 9am on another channel necessarily, we just want to be the best.”

Ryan also told Goss.ie that he isn’t worried about whether his JNLR radio figures go up or down next week after record ratings at the end of last year.

Not concerned: Ryan isn’t worried about JNLR figures | VIPIRELAND.COM

“I don’t live or die by these things. But we had a very good news day the last day, we are in a very positive frame of mind,” he revealed.

“We don’t know if it’s going to be good or bad but we do feel that we’re making good radio.

“It’s very satisfying, figures or no figures, that we know the team are happy. Then we’ll see the figures when they come out, and we’ll see what happens,” he said.