The Late Late Show: The 14 best moments of all time
From 1966 to 2021, we have rounded up some of the best moments of all-time.
There are certain moments in Irish culture that will forever be embedded in our memories. Before the internet and the term 'viral' became common use, many of those moments played out on our long-standing late-night chat show.
A part of Friday nights since 1962, the Late Late Show has delivered plenty of talking points and hilarious highlights throughout the reign of its three hosts. As Ryan Tubridy steps down from his role after 14 years, we look back at some of the best Late Late Show moments of all time.
What seemed like an innocent quiz turned into quite the scandal during one Late Late Show that aired in 1966. The Newlywed Game saw host Gay Byrne chose a married couple from the audience who were asked questions about one another. One question posed to Richard and Eileen Fox on the night was about the colour of Eileen’s nightie when they were on honeymoon. Richard’s answer was that it was transparent while Eileen said she wasn’t wearing one.
The moment faced criticism from Thomas Ryan, Bishop of Clonfert in Galway, and Byrne even had to issue a statement on the matter.
After the traditional "to whom it may concern" was played, Late Late viewers were surprised to be greeted by Oliver Reed one Friday night in 1979. Taking Gay Byrne's seat, the actor opened the show before handing back to Byrne.
Two weeks earlier, Reed had appeared on the show drunk and behaved inappropriately toward actress Susan George. "You tried very hard to take over the show a fortnight ago, you are not going to do so again," said Byrne before taking his seat.
During an episode of the Late Late Show in November 1980 that looked at the representation of women in the media, Gay Byrne gave up his seat for a young Marian Finucan.
A panel was invited into the studio following a report on the same topic but Gay Byrne was keen on proving one statement wrong: that Marian Finucane will never take the Late Late chair.
Inviting Finucane to sit in the presenter’s seat, ‘Gaybo’ leaves the stage, and a young Finucane receives a standing ovation from the audience. Finucane looked at home introducing her first guest, a champion of women’s rights Dr Lucille Mair.
In April 1993 Annie Murphy appeared on the Late Late Show to discuss her son, Peter, who was fathered by the then Bishop of Kerry, Eamonn Casey. Murphy, who was originally from the States, had just released a book called when she appeared alongside Gay Byrne on the chat show.
Before bidding farewell, Byrne told Murphy “If your son is half as good a man as his father, he won’t be doing too badly”. She responded by saying: “I’m not so bad either”.
How could we forget when Boyzone made their first-ever TV appearance? In 1993, before Mickey Graham became a member — and before they had recorded any songs — Ronan Keating, Stephen Gately, Shane Lynch and Keith Duffy made their debut by showing off their dancing skills. Introduced as ‘Ireland’s answer to Take That’, a baby-faced Keith Duffy confessed they only had 30 minutes to rehearse together. With overalls and no shirts, we can’t deny that the boys gave it a good go.
Of course, we didn’t know at the time that some of the young men before us would go on to sell 25 million records worldwide. “We look forward to hearing from you when you’re famous,” Byrne said before they left the stage.
During a now infamous interview with Gay Byrne in 1999, former Government Minister and European Commissioner Pádraig Flynn discussed the cost of running his three homes.
When asked about his pay and expenses as an EU Commissioner, the Mayo politician calculated that he earns about £140,000 with expenses — a net of £100,000.
“Out of that £100,000, I run a home in Dublin, Castlebar and Brussels. I want to tell you something, try it sometime when you have a couple of cars and three houses and three homes and a few housekeepers.”
Asked by Gay Byrne if he needs three houses, he said: “Well I have to live somewhere.”
Being part of the Late Late Toy Show audience is on every Irish person’s bucket list but back in 2008, one competition winner blew their chance. After being called by Pat Kenny live on TV, the winner sounded very unenthusiastic despite the great prize of Toy Show tickets and €10,000. As a result — while still holding the phone up to his ear — Kenny ripped up the tickets live on TV.
During the Late Late Show 50th anniversary special, Taken star Liam Neeson stopped by to visit Ryan Tubridy in the Late Late studio. However, after the actor’s appearance, many people speculated that he may have had one too many.
Neeson denied that he was drunk but explained that he had not slept for two days before the interview.
In 2012, the reunion between one mother and her daughter after three years got us all feeling a bit teary-eyed. Not knowing her daughter Sarah was in the vicinity, one mother in the audience told host Ryan Tubridy that she missed doing the “girly things” with her daughter.
Later in the show, Sarah and her boyfriend made a surprise appearance in what was a very emotional reunion. The family hugged it out and cried in front of the studio audience, making Tubridy a bit emotional too.
Another standout, hilarious moment was the brilliant Francis Brennan teaching us all how to correctly change a duvet. The hotelier even did a live demo with a duvet and a sheet, right there on the studio floor. However, it wasn’t going to plan, and a member of the audience (Amy) volunteered to come down and give him a hand. After lots of fumbling, they got there in the end.
Thank God for Amy.
Following a powerful interview on the Late Late Show in 2017, Tuam Babies historian Catherine Corless received a standing ovation from the studio audience.
She discussed her extensive research into the remains of 700+ children in a sewer system on the Tuam site and a number of guests shared their personal experiences with mother and baby homes.
An emotional Tubridy wrapped up the memorable interview before the studio audience gave the historian a rare standing ovation.
Of course, we couldn’t forget Tubridy’s bestie, Cork boy Adam King. The pair first met during the Late Late Toy Show in 2020. In the middle of the covid-19 pandemic, the adorable Adam stole the hearts of the nation with his ‘virtual hug’. The pair later reunited on the Late Late Show and Adam even got a chance to have a go at presenting.
While there are plenty of great moments from the Toy Show, we couldn’t bid farewell to Tubridy without mention of his encounter with a fizzy bottle of Fanta during the 2020 Toy Show. When the host opened the bottle of fizzy orange, it exploded and he may or may not have said a curse word. The blunter was followed by a knowing look to camera and a very long drink from his glass.
After the show, Tubridy said it was a “b-bomb” as opposed to an “f-bomb” and one that “probably rhymes with a word like ‘pollocks’".
In November 2021, the ever-inspiring Vicky Phelan joined Ryan Tubridy on what would be a very special Late Late Show. The Cervical cancer campaigner, who sadly passed away in November 2022, opened up about her decision to stop chemotherapy and to begin palliative care treatment.
At the time, her children Darragh and Amelia were aged 10 and 16 and she wanted to spend more quality time with them while feeling well. “A lot of people don’t talk about this — the horrors of the treatment is often worse than the disease itself,” she said at the time.
"I'd rather be well, I'd rather have a shorter time frame than be like that."
Tubridy often mentions Phelan among his favourite guests of all time.
