Today marks 10 years since the sudden passing of Gerry Ryan, and Ryan Tubridy has lead tributes to the RTÉ legend.
Speaking on his RTÉ Radio 1 show today, Ryan spoke about the moment he found out that his “good friend” Gerry had passed away.
Ryan was preparing for The Late Late Show when he heard the devastating news, and at first he thought it was a trick.
Speaking to his listeners, he explained: “I remember the day because it’s etched in my mind.”
He continued: “I was walking across the grounds here getting ready for the Late Late Show, and a phone call came through from a mutual friend of ours to say, ‘I’ve got terrible news about Gerry.'”
“And he told me that Gerry had passed away and the truth of the matter is I didn’t believe it.”
“I thought, ‘Gerry being Gerry he’s completely spoofing you this is a trick and you’ll hear from him between now and lunchtime.'”
“And my poor friend said, ‘Ryan this isn’t trickery he’s gone.'”
Despite the awful news, the RTÉ team still had to put the show together and go live that evening.
Ryan said: “And it was desperate, and we had to pull together a show, the likes of which we haven’t seen, with the exception of Gay’s show, and everyone kindly pulled together.”
“I remember sitting in the make up department and weirdly the guest we had couldn’t understand why everyone was crying.”
“We had to explain to her that one of the good guys, unfortunately, has left and she got it. But it was all very surreal.”
Ryan also praised Gerry for always caring about him and guiding him in his career.
The presenter said: “I just wanted to mark Gerry’s passing because he was so good to me at a personal and professional level.”
“I remember when I got the job at the Late Late Show he joined us for a drink the night the news came out and it was very big of him to do that for a number of reasons.”
“He was very kind to me and kind of minded me a lot, and when someone who minds you a lot dies its an awful void.”
Ryan also sent his condolences to Gerry’s five children, and shared that he somewhat feels their pain as he deeply misses Gerry too.
“I can only imagine what it’s like for his kids because I was just a friend, but to be a daughter or a son it must be that multiplied by a million.”
“So he’s missed a lot and often and I think about him often because I would often love to have his ear.”
The news comes after RTÉ announced their plan to name a studio after Gerry, to mark the 10th anniversary of his untimely death.
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