Four talking points from the Late Late Show, including Bambie and the hosts of Talking Bollox
Bambie Thug showing off her little black rat which was gifted to them last week during the Eurosong competition. Picture: RTÉ
Opening the show was Bambie Thug who has taken the country by storm since winning the Eurosong on last week's Late Late special.
This week, it was a much tamer affair but one that gave the audience a chance to get to know the person behind the performer.
Speaking about the support they've received since being named Ireland's entry for Eurovision 2024, Bambie said it felt like a homecoming.
They also addressed some of the negative reactions from a small number of people, specifically one person who began a petition to kick Bambie off of Eurosong.
Bambie simply told them: "I wish you love and light".
The petition accused them of being a satanist because of their love of witchcraft and paganism and their appearance while on stage.
"I'm sorry that upsets you. That's why I came out with not the white face on or anything today - to show you that I am just a person."
The stage make-up may have been missing but Bambie was still dressed for the occasion in a hooded black gown and long black gloves.
The look was completed with the addition of a fake black rat which earned a lot of love on social media.
Following the death of Ian Bailey, Sophie Toscan du Plantier's son joined Patrick Kielty to discuss how this has impacted him and his family.
Pierre-Louis Baudey-Vignaud revealed that he learned of Bailey's death while out with his children, the phone had been ringing a lot and then he saw a text from a journalist telling him that the chief suspect in his mother's murder was dead.
"It's like a game over. There is a game over. There is no happy ending but it's game over," he said.
Baudey-Vignaud said that he remains 100% certain that Bailey is the person who killed his mother and he remains hopeful that one day the Irish investigation will find him guilty.
The family never sold the Cork home where Toscan du Plantier was killed and Baudey-Vignaud visits with his children up to five times a year.
He said Schull was his mother's paradise and bringing his children there is a way for them to meet their grandmother.
“They feel their grandmother here for sure” #latelate pic.twitter.com/1uS1uYhXbG
— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) February 2, 2024
With Bailey now gone, Baudey-Vignaud spoke of his hope to move on saying that one of the reasons he came on the Late Late was to tell everyone "We must turn the page".
"I am free again here in Ireland and I don’t want any more interviews, I don’t want any more pressure. It’s the end of this story."
As he has many times since he took over as host of the Late Late, Kielty was praised by viewers for his sensitivity and compassion during the interview.
Kielty never rushed his guest or interjected in moments where Baudey-Vignaud was trying to find the words to express himself. He was given the time and space to express himself freely.
"Patrick and Pierre both lost parents in the most violent of circumstances as young teenage boys. That was a very touching conversation between them both," said one viewer.
Marti Pellow was on hand to serenade the audience with a medley of hits.
The former frontman of Wet Wet Wet reminisced about his decades-long career and plugged his upcoming show in the 3Arena - although, just like us, it will always be The Point to him.
Pellow was charming, funny and a general delight but probably the best part of his time on the show was when three superfans tried to win tickets to the gig.
Very straightforward, each contestant was asked a question and got tickets if they answered correctly but would have a bucket of water dumped on them if they were wrong. It gave flashbacks to the ice bucket challenge days.
Enter Sharon from Finglas. When she was asked how excited she would be to see Marti live, Sharon quickly responded by saying: "I'd be very wet".
Sending everyone into a fit of the giggles, there was immediate regret from Sharon who hid her face in her hands while shaking her head.
Thankfully, she got her question right and should be over the embarrassment by the time the concert comes around.
There was a huge amount of love and support for the presenters of the hugely popular podcast, Talking Bollox.
Terence Power and Calvin O'Brien turned the tables on Kielty immediately asking him some of their unique ice-breaker questions. We learned about the Late Late host's shower habits and who he prefers between Gay Byrne and Ryan Tubridy.
Doing what they do best, the two men switched seamlessly between taking the piss and getting into serious issues.
Both are from inner city Dublin and spoke about how they try to rid society of the stereotypes that plague their community.
"There's this perception of young men, especially if you speak like me or if you wear tracksuits, that you're scum or you're less than," said Power.
Power shared the story of a time a woman in a coffee shop heard the podcasters talking while behind her in the queue and pulled her handbag tight and took steps away from them.
While O'Brien said that at his first work Christmas party in the job he got when he graduated college, a senior staff member pulled him aside and told him he would need to tone down his accent if he wanted to be successful.
They never imagined Talking Bollox would reach the success it has - selling out the National Stadium and interviewing Tánaiste Micheál Martin - but they are making sure that they are using the platform they have.
Sharing their lives, stories, and experiences they bring awareness to the issues facing people in the inner city but they also highlight the wonderful community of people.
Looking back at the Dublin riots that took place last November, O'Brien shared his disappointment that while children and a creche worker were in hospital after being attacked, he was being contacted by news outlets to give a statement on the events that unfolded on the city's streets.
"My response to that was, I'm as worried about them kids as anybody else and you want me to have a conversation with you about riots," said O'Brien.
He added: "There was a lot of hatred and finger-pointing going on but that's not going to help anybody. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth will leave us all mumbling and blind. So we try to move past it and coming together is how we'll get through it."
The two men were praised for how open and honest they are about their lives and for the work they do to improve the lives of others.
"Fair play lads for addressing the likes of stigma and asking the hard questions. It shows that we all should never judge a book by the cover," one viewer wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
"Great ambassadors for Dublin's inner city and brilliant role models," another said.
