Patrick Kielty made his debut as the host of The Late Late Show tonight, kicking off the show’s 61st season on RTÉ One.
The 52-year-old was announced as the show’s new presenter in May, after Ryan Tubridy stepped down from the role in March.
The comedian has become the fourth presenter to host the RTÉ chat show, following in the footsteps of Gay Byrne, Pat Kenny and Ryan.
Opening the show on Friday night, Patrick poked fun at the RTÉ payments scandal, which has been dominating headlines over the past few months.
Addressing the elephant in the room, he said: “Good evening and welcome to a brand new season of The Late Late Show. It’s so nice to finally get started because as you all know folks the Late Late Show has been off air now for almost four months…
“Well I say off air but its been on Morning Ireland, Prime Time, Live Line. What a treat it is to have The Late Late Show on again after the news.
“We’ve got a new opening, we’ve got a new logo and we’ve got a brand new house band for you folks… give it up for Grant Thornton and the flip flops!”
“And we’re trying out a brand new format tonight on the show where the host gets to ask the questions instead of having to answer them at the Oireachtas.”
“We wanted to make a special effort for you tonight folks because apparently lots of folks are tuning in this evening which is really very exciting.
“Based on the latest figures for TV license payments we’re expecting an audience of up to 27 people tuning in tonight, and just to put that into perspective that’s almost double the amount of people who saw Toy Show The Musical.
“This is where the RTE executives in the green room realise they might have booked the wrong pony,” he joked.
All jokes aside, Patrick got emotional towards the end of his monologue as he mentioned his family who were watching from home.
“I just wanted to say how much this means to me tonight,” he said while holding back tears. Like so many of you watching this show tonight my journey has had the odd bump in the road but it’s funny how things work out.
“There’s no way I ever thought that I’d be standing here this evening but I am so so happy… and it truly is an honour of a lifetime to be able to say welcome to the Late Late Show.”
For his first show, Patrick’s guests included Tommy Tiernan, Hector Ó hEochagáin and Laurita Blewitt; former President of Ireland Mary McAleese; The 2 Johnnies; footballer James McClean, and musical guests Chasing Abbey.
