Blindboy Boatclub of The Rubberbandits has admitted that they “would never have had a chance at getting on TV” without Republic of Telly.
Blindboy spoke to Goss.ie shortly after it was revealed that the satirical show was being axed from RTÉ 2 after 15 seasons.
The Rubberbandits first appeared on the show after the viral success of their first music video for Horse Outside, and they went on to host a number of ‘The Rubberbandits Guide To…’ segments on the show.
Speaking about the show’s axe, Blindboy Boatclub said, “Sad news indeed, it was the first RTE programme to take internet culture seriously. We would never have had a chance at getting on TV in 2010, we were too weird.”
Thankful: The Rubberbandits are thankful that people behind Republic of Telly gave them a chance | VIPIRELAND.COM
“But James Cotter, the Republic of Telly producer at the time, had the savvy to see that we had a big online audience that wasn’t to be ignored.
“Shane Mulvey who was the recent producer always gave me the space to have full creative freedom.
“I hope RTE replace it with something that embraces the creativity that’s happening on the Irish internet,” he added.
The light-hearted show was axed after 15 seasons on the channel, as RTÉ revealed that they were under financial pressure, with a loss of €20 million in 2016 alone.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Zamparelli also opened up to Goss.ie about her time on the show.
