Four talking points from the Late Late Show, including Keith Earls on bipolar disorder
Keith Earls on the Late Late Show.
Recently retired rugby star Keith Earls spoke about his mental health on the Late Late Show, in particular, his diagnosis of bipolar disorder two years ago and how he has been working to be free of medication for the condition.
“I know it's very important for people to take medication but I didn't I didn't want to rely on this,” he told Patrick Kielty.
He said when he first opened up about his experience with bipolar disorder publicly he did not expect the impact it would have, with strangers stopping him in the street to thank him.
“When I was on here a couple of years ago, when I spoke about it, I kind of felt, I'm after giving too much away here. And then when I saw the impact it had on some of the people, and even now to this day walking around the street, people come up saying how important it was to them and how it helped them. I'm very grateful for that and I’m so proud of the book for that.
He added: "I'm in a good place, that's all I can say, It's going to be constant to work on —I think it is for everyone. No one's ever going to figure it out, but I suppose that's the journey, really."
Amid the Rugby World Cup in Paris, a photo of Earls caught the public’s attention and swiftly went viral. On the Late Late, he explained how the image of him sharing a bicycle ride with Peter O’Mahony came about, and it’s all down to Finlay Bealham’s lack of confidence on two wheels.
He said much of the team cycled around Paris in their downtime. They bumped into Finlay Bealham on one such jaunt around the city and he revealed to them that he couldn’t ride a bike, so they urged him to try.
“I was like, 'get on the bike. I am going to hop on the back and we are going to a restaurant and get something to eat’,” he explained.
"I was on the bike and I swear I had to jump off for my own safety. It was like getting a carry off my five-year-old daughter. He was screeching at parked cars and he was wobbling a lot. I said I’ll jump on with Peter O'Mahony, it’s a lot safer. I was doing the sat nav.
“That’s how we knew there were Irish in town — that went viral.”
‘Is Ths The Way To Amarillo’ singer Tony Christie also joined the show and opened up about his dementia diagnosis.
Christie, 80, said he first noticed a problem when he struggled with crossword puzzles.
“I said to my wife ‘What's happening I keep forgetting things, I was good at this game’,” he said, adding she encouraged him to visit a doctor who identified “the beginnings of dementia” and started treatment via tablets.
“It’s not cured it but kept it down,” he said, adding that his career is a fortunate one in this case.
“The doctor said you are very lucky because you are in the music business and music is one of the things that anyone with dementia knows, if they play music it holds it back”.
He said he is “not ashamed” of having dementia and is glad he spoke publicly about the diagnosis.
Kielty ended the show by teasing the following week’s Toy Show special, giving away the last pair of audience tickets to a viewer and saying his own dream will be coming true when he hosts the iconic episode.
Closing the show, he said the Toy Show is “where dreams will be coming true next week for kids all around the country — and for a small boy from Dundrum, Co Down who used to sit on his da's knee and watch Gay Byrne tell us all about the toys. And if we were really lucky, and we were good boys, they might just turn up on Christmas morning.
“Next Friday night, another dream comes true for me as I actually get to host the show that I watched as a wee fella with my dad, my mum and my brothers. Say a prayer for all on board as I tried to hold it together,” he added as he showed some emotion.
Previous host Ryan Tubridy was synonymous with the Toy Show, earning the moniker ‘the Toy Man’ from children up and down the country, so Kielty is no doubt feeling the pressure to make his mark on the episode.
“And to all the kids who are watching tonight and are going to be watching next week and to all those that listen in the studio, one little sentence: Go easy on me.”
