Baz Ashmawy has broken his silence on rumours he’s set to replace Ryan Tubridy on The Late Late Show.
Earlier this month, the TV presenter announced his shock departure from the chat show, after 14 years at the helm.
Since Ryan confirmed his exit, a host of famous faces have been tipped for the hosting role, including DIY SOS host Baz.
The bookies have also placed odds on Baz potentially co-hosting the show with Lucy Kennedy.
The pair previously co-presented their own weekend breakfast show on RTÉ 2fm, before it was axed in 2012.
Sadly, Baz has confirmed it’s just speculation for now as he hasn’t been contacted by anyone at RTÉ.
Speaking to SundayWorld.com, the 47-year-old said: “I love Lucy and I don’t know about her, but no one has spoken to me about it.”
“I think it’s just people having a little bit of fun and mixing up the bookies a bit,” he continued.
“I think people are just very excited at the moment about the Late Late Show. It seems to be the main obsession and I think they’re just throwing everybody’s name into the mix.”
Baz also said it was “very sweet” that people are interested in him taking the job.
“There’s loads of really great talent in Ireland and a lot of them are my friends. I think all the people they’re talking about are all really good candidates,” he said.
“I love all of them – Claire (Byrne), Jennifer (Zamparelli), Deirdre O’Kane – and there are lots of great lads too.”
The news comes after Lucy Kennedy poured cold water on rumours she could take over from Ryan.
Speaking exclusively to Goss.ie, the mother-of-three said: “I haven’t been approached by RTÉ, I’ve been living with celebrities [for the upcoming season of Living with Lucy]!”
“I don’t think that The Late Late Show in its current format would suit me.”
“Ryan is leaving very big boots to fill. In my opinion, he’s one of Ireland’s best broadcasters. I hope that whoever takes over does as good a job as he did,” she added.
Over the weekend, Goss.ie revealed the frontrunners for the Late Late Show job – including Claire Byrne, Brendan O’Connor, Tommy Tiernan, Donie O’Sullivan and Jennifer Zamparelli.
You can check out the full list here.
