Ryan Tubridy has bid farewell to Ireland ahead of his big move to London.
In a video shared on Instagram, the former Late Late Show host plugged his new radio show, which starts on Tuesday at 10am on Virgin Radio in the UK and Q102 in Ireland.
Ryan sold his new show as being filled with “fun” and “good tunes”, and urged listeners to download the Virgin Radio app so they can tune in.
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The radio host shared his positive attitude towards the new move with his followers, and said: “I just wanted to let you know that we are going to have a wonderful new year in 2024, I can just tell from here.”
The former RTÉ presenter said he is “enormously looking forward” to having his listeners’ “company” again.
Ryan revealed that this will be his last post in Ireland for a few weeks, but reassured his followers that he will update them when he touches down in London on Sunday.
The news of Ryan’s new job on Virgin Radio came months after the 50-year-old lost his RTÉ Radio 1 slot, amid the ongoing payments scandal.
Ryan was pulled from RTÉ’s airwaves back in June, after it was revealed his earnings were publicly understated by €345,000 over the last six years.
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 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.
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.”
During his final episode of RTÉ flagship programme in May, after 14 years at the helm, Irish band U2 gifted the presenter a brand new Vespa.
He took to Instagram to share a video of him riding the luxury motorbike, and captioned the post: “The U2-mobile has landed…🛵🇮🇪”
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“A Farwell gift from the band when I retired from The Late Late Show in May…I’m still flabbergasted by the gesture.”
“Thanks to the band and the people behind the scenes who made it happen. It’s electric, it’s red, it’s perfect. #u2 #vespa #vespagram.”
