Four talking points from the Late Late Show Valentine’s Day special
Patrick Kielty with Laura Whitmore, Aisling Bea and Domhnall Gleeson on the Late Late Show Valentine's Day special
What was more entertaining, Biff’s second chance at love after his disappointment on First Dates Ireland or Domhnall Gleeson’s discomfort watching the small talk getting underway via live broadcast?
Biff first came to the nation’s attention earlier this week on First Dates Ireland after we saw him meet Toni on the show and sparks flew. However, despite hitting it off, viewers were dismayed to learn he was still waiting for her post-date phone call.
In the name of love, Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty invited him to a second chance date during the Valentine’s Day special on Friday night, and viewers saw him meet Rachel live in the First Dates restaurant and the two started chatting.
However, the camera was slow to cut away so while the awkward initial small talk commenced, Kielty’s guest Gleeson was visibly and audibly cringing.
“Why are we watching this? They should be alone, leave them be!” he begged. Biff quickly responded: “Domhnall, this is an Oscar in the making. Don’t be jealous.”
All’s well in love and war, however, as we learned at the end of the show Biff and Rachel are keen to continue with a second date. A nation holds its breath for the follow-up phone call to materialise.
Gleeson shared an awkward experience of his own, describing his very first first date as a young teen when he brought a girl to the cinema.
He said he was about a year younger than the age rating on the movie they’d decided to see so his date had to purchase the tickets for them “which is not a good look” and only added to his nerves.
“I bought way too many sweets and I was really nervous.”
However, the most awkward moment for him occurred just before the movie began, while the trailers were playing on screen and a familiar face stared down at him — his father, Brendan Gleeson.
“One of the trailers… my dad was in it,” he said.
“I remember just seeing his big face looking down at me and feeling so terribly judged.”
Kielty welcomed the evening’s musical act, American singer-songwriter Noah Kahan who performed his hit song Stick Season.
After singing, he told Kielty about his recent experience at the Grammys, where his mother was his plus-one. He also shared his love for two Irish singers, Dermot Kennedy and Hozier.
Kennedy joined him the previous night during Kahan’s sold-out 3Arena gig. He described Kennedy as “an amazing artist, amazing singer” and “an awesome vocalist and a great guy”.
He said Hozier is a huge influence on his music and the Wicklow star inspired him creatively. Kahan said it was a pinch-me moment to sing with him recently.
“Every time I sit down with a guitar or a piano to make a song I'm thinking about Hozier and I think about how he might do it. He’s one of those artists that just inspires your process and so getting to do a song with him is a full-circle moment. It makes all the moments that were hard make sense and feel justified.”
It’s very obvious that Kielty took a calmer approach to the Valentine’s special than his predecessor Ryan Tubridy did. During Tubridy’s reign the night felt more like an alcohol-fuelled stag or hen do, complete with dating games, blind dates and free post-show entry to Coppers for the audience.
This year’s proceedings were much calmer and focused more on the guests — Gleeson was joined by his Alice & Jack costar Aisling Bea and Love Island presenter Laura Whitmore. All of the guests, however, seemed to have only learned on the day that they were taking part in the Valentine’s special.
“I did not know this was a Valentine's Day special. Normally, I would not have agreed to come on,” Gleeson said from the get-go.
Perhaps the fear of scaring away big-name guests explains the more restrained atmosphere, the less hyped-up audience and the changed format.
