Four Late Late Show talking points, from Amanda Knox to Dermot Whelan
Amanda Knox on the Late Late Show
Ten years after she was fully acquitted of the murder of her housemate in Italy, Amanda Knox spoke about rebuilding her life since her release from prison and releasing her book this month.
Knox spent four years in prison in Italy after being accused of murdering Meredith Kercher before DNA evidence proved her innocence and saw Rudy Guede sentenced for the murder. She said the sensationalised narrative created by the prosecution and media was difficult to overcome, even after her release.
“It was such a public story that I was being pursued constantly,” she said.
“As soon as I got home, helicopters were chasing me home, and for months and months and months, I was being literally stopped by paparazzi. I lived in a constant state of paranoia and isolation, and I didn't feel like I could meet people, I couldn't trust people. I only talked to the people who I knew before Italy.
“I had dreamed in prison, just going back to my life that I had before Italy, and it didn't exist anymore. I had been through something, and I couldn't just pretend that four years of my life had not just been spent in prison.”
Knox since returned to Italy to meet prosecutor Giuliano Mignini.
“I originally reached out to my prosecutor because I did not want to be afraid of this boogeyman version of him in my mind, this idea of a person who just didn't care that I was innocent, who just threw an innocent girl in prison.”
She said she has not heard from Meredith Kercher’s family but understands why they would want to distance themselves from her.
“I've never gotten a response back, and I've resisted pushing because, though it is not my fault and I had nothing to do with Meredith's murder, I know that they associate me with that huge trauma in their life.
“Of course I want to mourn Meredith, the lives that we could have had, and I want to go and visit her grave. But I also understand that Meredith belongs to them before she belongs to me.”
Sounds like classic Jack 🤣#latelate pic.twitter.com/C23HyzDVZn
— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) April 11, 2025
Friends and former Irish footballers Liam Brady and Johnny Giles spoke about their sporting careers, including their time as pundits with RTÉ.
Brady said he has “fond memories” of his punditry years.
“We had a great time. We were the A team, I think, and it made it because Ireland were doing so well back in the day.”
He said the conflicting opinions of the pundits made great viewing, particularly after Saipan.
“There was an atmosphere you could cut with a knife in the studio. Eamon [Dunphy] wasn't speaking to John, he wasn't speaking to me because we sided with Mick McCarthy, me, probably more so than John. And Bill [O’Herlihy], of course, was stirring it up all the time.”
Giles added: “We all had different opinions at that time. We told it as we saw it, that's the only thing you can do.”
Professional dancer and television judge Bruno Tonioli spoke about his own career, including working with Simon Cowell on the latest series of .
He spoke about the choreography in Elton John’s music video for and said they all “literally made it up as we went along”.
Known for his work on BBC’s , Tonioli described his hectic schedule for that show.
“We were finishing at the BBC, get off the set on Saturday, about 11.30 drive back home, pack up. The car comes up at eight. You go on the plane to Los Angeles and land on the Sunday, you'll go live on Monday, Tuesday, get back on the plane on Wednesday, land on Thursday, you get on the BBC lot on Friday. And it went for 11 weeks every year.
“We were demented, totally demented. We created those personas and those characters, because the banter helped us re-energise. And I really couldn't have done it without [Len Goodman]. And he told me vice versa.”
Space is key… especially in a lift 😂#latelate pic.twitter.com/ynwo39zD7a
— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) April 11, 2025
Comedian and mindfulness coach Dermot Whelan revealed he used to sleep in his car every day during his radio presenting days as he was so tired all the time.
“I had a lot going on. I had just started the mid-morning show with Dave. It was a big deal. We were doing our first live tour,” he said.
“I think, like a lot of people I was just saying yes to a lot of work, and just basically doing a lot of work and maybe not taking the time out to take a bit of rest and recovery. It manifested for me in sleeping in my car in the afternoon.
“I'm a big fan of the disco nap, but when you find yourself doing it every day… When I would finish the radio show if I had to meet somebody later on, or if I had a meeting or something, I was regularly sleeping in my car for about 40 minutes to try and get the energy to get through the rest of the day.
“I think that when we when we get caught up in busyness and we're a high stress state is our norm, it's exhausting.”
He said when he left the radio show it was the first time in years he was not busy, and he enjoyed it — despite the confusion from some people.
“I think it's our national pastime, we just like to tell people how busy we are.
“I noticed that when I left the radio for the first time in many years, I wasn't that busy. I was actually focusing on one thing at a time. I was writing the book, and that was kind of it and people would say, ‘Geez, you're doing great since you left the radio. You're flat out, I'd say, are you?’ And I'm like, ‘No, actually, I'm actually not that busy.’ And they wouldn't know what to say.”
