Ryan Tubridy is reportedly spending time with a former Rose of Tralee.
According to Extra.ie, the former Late Late Show host has been comforted by Dr Clare Kambamettu amid the RTÉ payments scandal.
The outlet reports that the clinical psychologist, who appeared on Ryan’s RTÉ Radio One show back in March, was seen driving out of the security gates of his Dublin home when the scandal first hit headlines.
Dr Kambamettu, who became the Rose of Tralee in 2010, was also reportedly spotted returning to Ryan’s home after they went on a run around his neighbourhood.
Along with their alleged sightings around Dublin 4, Ryan and Clare have also reportedly been spotted together in the West of Ireland – where Ryan has retreated to in recent weeks.
Ryan, who previously dated Rose of Tralee 2005 winner Aoibhinn Ní Shúillehbháin, has been keeping a low-profile ever since his earnings were publicly understated by €345,000 over the last six years.
The issue was identified during a routine audit of RTÉ’s 2022 accounts, prompting an independent review of the matter.
RTÉ has taken full responsibility for the misstatement of Ryan’s fees, but the presenter has not yet returned to work – and it is not yet known if he ever will.
He hosted his final The Late Late Show in May, and has not hosted his RTÉ Radio 1 Show since before news of the payments controversy broke.
During his appearance before the Public Accounts Committee earlier this month, Ryan confessed that he’s been in such a “terrible state” because there’s been “so much misunderstanding” surrounding the scandal.
The presenter broke his social media silence last week to pay tribute to the late Sinéad O’Connor – who passed away on July 26 at the age of 56.
In an article written for The Irish Times over the weekend, Ryan revealed the Irish singer offered him a “safe haven” amid the scandal.
He wrote: “Two weeks ago, I was in Clifden escaping from reality when my phone rang. It was Sinéad – ‘Jesus man, what the f**k is going on?’ – and so began a very long chat about life and the universe.”
“She told me that sometimes bad situations were really just visits from ‘God in a hoodie’ whereby you think you’re being mugged but there’s a higher purpose – beautifully Sinéad!”
“I won’t go into more detail but she understood darkness, she understood loyalty, she understood family and she understood love.”
“She offered me her spare room in the new flat if I needed a safe haven, but more importantly she offered kindness.”
“There was always a pre-show smoke around the side of the building, an innocuous spot that Late Late Show house band MD Jim Sheridan and I renamed The Sinéad O’Connor Suite (she loved that).”
“Then there was the reverence for her among the other guests and crew, who always knew that a Sinéad night was a special one,” Ryan continued.
“With every appearance on the Late Late, our unlikely friendship grew. Thoughtful text messages, bawdy WhatsApp memes and occasional phone calls became part of our ‘thing’”.
“On the first Late Late of the 2019 season (pre-Covid), we invited members of the Irish frontline services on, as a celebration of the best of Ireland.”
“Sinéad was in her dressing room with her sister, and we were chatting away until she stopped and asked could she meet the frontline personnel, and so off we went to the studio and she shrank into herself, a little overwhelmed by the admiration and appreciation shown to her by the people she had wanted to admire and appreciate. Sinéad had that effect.”
“It’s hard to see it now in the light of her death but Sinéad got a hard time for many years probably because she was misunderstood,” he continued.
“In recent years I’ve taken to comparing her with the ancient Greek figure of Cassandra, who told everyone what was going to happen but was dismissed as a crank, only for her predictions to come true without fail.”
“What a frustrating place to be and yet there she was, warning us about the myriad dangers that faced, and face, us as a society.”
