Tonight’s Late Late Show is set to be historical for a number of reasons.
For the first time in history, a woman will present the world’s longest-running chat show on television.
With the show’s host Ryan Tubridy “staying away” from the studio due to a “persistent cough”, RTÉ veteran Miriam O’Callaghan is stepping in to host.
With the COVID-19 crisis changing the way we are living our daily lives, it has also changed the way our favourite shows are being made, and Miriam will face a studio with no audience tonight.
Miriam is the perfect choice for multiple reasons, not only has she handled the toughest in politics on Prime Time, she has sat down with an array of celebrities on her series Saturday Night With Miriam.
And the mother-of-eight was forced to deny she was running for President of Ireland in 2008, after more and more people called for the much-loved TV presenter to go for the job.
The Late Late Show is the world’s longest-running live TV chat show of all time, starting in 1962.
To date the show’s hosts have included Gay Byrne, Pat Kenny and, of course, Ryan Tubridy.
There have only been two replacements in the history of the series, presenter Frank Hall took over for Gay Byrne for four months in 1964, and in 2008 Gerry Ryan stepped-in for Pat Kenny.
While losing Ryan tonight amid such uncertainty in Ireland, and the world, will leave many feeling uneasy tonight, thankfully we have an equally qualified broadcaster to steer us through another strange night.
And while we will miss Ryan on our screens tonight, we can celebrate having a woman lead the show for the first time.
