Six things we expect to see on tonight’s Late Late Show Valentine’s special
Ryan Tubridy on the set of The Late Late Show Valentine's Special in 2017. Picture: Andres Poveda
It’s that time of year again —when the nation sits back and gets all warm and squishy, watching the Late Late Valentine’s special.
This year’s show promises a host of singles hoping a meet-cute will be facilitated by Ryan Tubridy, with plenty of loved-up couples on hand to offer their advice to those who are yet to meet the One.
Like all events inspired by the Hallmark holiday, there is likely to be some questionable puns, toe-curling innuendos, and some very public proposals. Tubridy says it’s the “wildest” night of the Late Late year and it usually takes him “six weeks to recover.” Here’s what you can expect.
As if the excitement of the Toy Show opening wasn’t enough, now we get to look forward to Valentine’s Special opening every year! The 2018 one lives rent-free in our heads — this, we're sure you will agree is timeless.
A staple of any Late Late Valentine’s special is of course the blind date, where an eager (or very embarrassed) singleton asks three people behind a screen a number of questions. Expect an innuendo in every second sentence for this portion and plenty of spluttering from your granny in the corner.
In 2018, James from Mullingar proposed live on air to girlfriend Siobhan during a fake Mr and Mrs-style game segment. In fairness, who would opt to hear ‘I do’ in a private intimate moment when you can share it with Tubs, the raucous Late Late audience and have it immortalised on the iPlayer forevermore? Also, apparently, the engagement ring from 2018 was donated by a jewellers — just a heads up for next year lads.
The best part of every Late Late Valentine’s special is the audience. We’re not sure what it is about the night, but it seems to trigger something that transports grown men in the audience back to their teen disco days. Expect lots of shouting about “the ride,” giddy heckling and a chorus of Olé olé at some stage.
As fun as the blind date section is, it’s a lot better when you get some help from the person that knows you better than yourself. Bring in, the Irish mammy. We’re not sure Colm has ever recovered from this.
In 2020, we had Marti Pellow singing ‘Love Is All Around,’ in 2019, we had Mickey Joe Harte singing ‘We've Got the World Tonight’ and in 2017 we had Al Porter and Linda Martin team up for what might be the cringiest version of Dead Ringer For Love we’ve ever heard (and that includes drunk dads at Irish weddings).
