Late Late Show recap: Westlife, FTD Brothers' 32 marathons for dementia and an emotional reunion
Westlife joined Patrick Kielty for the season finale of The Late Late Show o Friday night. Picture: The Late Late Show/Instagram.
Friday night's season finale of The Late Late Show was jam-packed, featuring Westlife performances, an appearance by Garron Noone, a tear-jerking segment on heroes with connections to Ireland, and Boy George's style and political views on the world.
The closing episode on Friday night, marking the end of the 2025-2026 season, opened with a rendition of Westlife’s
Singer-songwriter Garron Noone opened the show with an acoustic version of the song, before being joined in the studio by Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Nicky Byrne.
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Fresh from having their hands cast for a plaque that will go on display at the 3Arena ahead of their September residency, Filan, Egan and Byrne joined Kielty to chat about their career to date, the upcoming shows and their new album.
“Our hands are now in stone at 3Arena. We went there today. We're marking 82 shows at 3Arena. I mean, we say that, and even when the last time we were on here, we just are blown away every time something like this happens,” Byrne said.
“It was a really incredible, iconic moment for us. You know, something that we're truly, truly proud of. It was, it was special,” he added.
After the band’s 13-show run at the venue wraps in September, they’ll have performed 82 shows in total there, which doesn’t include their six Croke Park gigs, Aviva Stadium gigs, and gigs elsewhere, including Cork and Galway.
“This country blows our minds. To have this much success in our home country just means so much to us,” Egan said.
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Filan spoke of how they recently performed on the Chinese New Year Gala TV show, which he described as a huge honour.
“For us, as an Irish band, going over to China to do it was huge. A lot of Pepe watched it,” he said.
They spoke about their appearance, to their surprise, on when they were duped into thinking they were appearing on a fake TV show.
They also touched on the release of their new album, on May 8, which features both classic favourites and four new tracks, including the single
The band revealed that Garron Noone, who opened Friday‘s will be joining them as support for their 3Arena residency, among other up-and-coming artists.
Singer-songwriter Garron Noone joined Kielty to talk about his career to date, including performing with Robbie Williams at Croke Park last year, and his upcoming stint playing support for Westlife in September.
“Listen, I'll try my best. I'm doing my own few gigs as well. But the highlight of my life is… you're never going to top that, you're never going to be beat being in a boy band for two minutes,” Noone said after his performance together with Westlife on the show.
“I'm happy out, I can die a happy man now,” he continued.
Speaking about the upcoming run of shows supporting Westlife, the Mayo native, who boasts more than four million followers across Instagram and TikTok combined, and who is well known for his ‘Follow me, I’m delicious’ tagline, said: “To be honest, I know they've got a big budget for the show, so I'm gonna go all in. Master of blend, Barry's Tea, the fancy biscuits… Do you know the ones half dipped in chocolate? I'll get two boxes of them as well.”
Last July, Noone cancelled the remainder of his nationwide tour this year due to ill health.
He said at the time that the decision was made after “a lot of thought” and that he was dealing with some issues that needed to be dealt with.
“It has gotten to a point where I really need to put all of my energy into getting back on track,” he posted in an update to fans at the time.
Since then, Noone has announced new upcoming shows in Belfast, Mayo, Dublin, and Kerry.
Also joining Kielty from the studio audience on Friday night were Jordan and Cian Adams, known as the FTD Brothers.
They spoke about their mission to run 32 marathons in the 32 counties on the island of Ireland to raise funds to find a cure for FTD, the type of dementia they lost their mother to 10 years ago at the age of just 52.
After being told that they have a 99.9% chance of developing the same early-onset dementia as their mother, the brothers are on a mission to raise awareness of the disease.
The brothers, who have previously spoken about their mother’s Irish roots and her love for Ireland, also appeared on last year to tell their story.
Speaking to Kielty on Friday night, Jordan, who last week ran the London Marathon with a refrigerator strapped to his back, said: “We've been on a mission to make dementia visible, tell the world about our story. And I don't think it's any coincidence that this week, in the past four or five days, Ireland has got right behind us in the place that my mum called home, and finally, we feel like people are listening, and it's thanks to the Irish people for that.”
Also joining Kielty were Doreen and Patrick Cunningham, the grandparents of Austin Appelbee, who swam through choppy waters off Western Australia to raise the alarm after his mother, Joanne, and two younger siblings were swept out to sea back in February.
Doreen told Kielty of her 13-year-old grandson’s bravery, explaining that he had swum for four hours and run a further 2km once he reached land, to get help.
To the shock and surprise of both Doreen and Patrick, their daughter Joanne, and their grandchildren Austin, Beau, and Grace joined them in the studio, having been flown in from Australia for the occasion.
Speaking about the ordeal, Austin told Kielty: “So when I hit the sand, my legs felt like jelly completely, and I stood up and I ran and dove into the sand, and I wore myself out, and then I got back up and started running.”
His mother, Joanne, added: “I can tell you now that every bad thought that you have in your head as a mum, went through my mind. Had I made the wrong decision by sending him off? I made the right decision, obviously by sending him off, because we're all here to see you all now. Did he make it? We didn't know. Even when we got rescued, we didn't know until I got to shore.
“There was no other way of getting out of this than the decision I made, which is every mother's nightmare. And I hope that nobody else ever has to make this decision in their life but we were here to tell the tale and we’re alive.”
Kielty’s final guest was Boy George, who spoke about his Irish roots, traced back to Dublin and Tipperary, his style, the death of his mother, and his political views, including his participation in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
The singer-songwriter spoke of his new exhibition at Newbridge Silver, where he is showing off his gunas, his outfits, from over the years.
“Finding things I had when I was 16, that was the real trip. Going, ‘Oh my God, I've still got that jacket’. So, some things obviously have fallen apart, you know? I mean, the thing about when you're doing something as a teenager or in your 20s, you don't really think of it being iconic until later. Iconic is, in retrospect, no one knows they're being iconic when they're 16 or 25, that doesn't mean anything. When you get older and people start referencing it, then you realise it meant something," he said.
He said that his clothes tell a story, pointing out that iconic names in the music industry – Bowie, Prince, Madonna, Elvis Presley – had style and great music.
He spoke about the passing of his mother and how he will always carry her with him, saying: “When my mum died, I felt like there’s no holes in the universe. Where can you go? No one really leaves. If you believe in frequency and energy, you know, just because you're not matter, doesn't mean that you don't still exist in some way, which might sound crazy, but then people who believe in God, are they crazy?”
Touching on political views, George acknowledged the backlash he has received online for his comments on Israel and antisemitism.
Following the October 7, 2023, attack in Israel, George posted a message on social media expressing solidarity with Israel, which was subsequently deleted. He has also previously criticised Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters for his views on Israel, saying, “Antisemitism is not rock 'n' roll”.
“I've kind of had a lot of abuse online for my support of my Jewish friends… growing up, I've had so many beautiful Jewish friends, and I still have, and being asked to kind of turn against the whole race of people is just not acceptable to me, and I'm getting a lot of abuse for it, but I don't really care,” he told Kielty.
In response, Kielty acknowledged what he described as “the horrors” in Gaza, to which George replied: “You don't blame a whole nation for what's going on in America or in Russia or anywhere else. I think it's really about your relationships with people. I don't choose my friends based on their race or their sexuality or their age. I choose people because I like them, because they're good people. And I know lots of amazing Jewish people. If you don't know any Jewish people, maybe that's the problem.”
He also spoke about his involvement in the representing San Marino, saying music is about bringing people together, despite the controversy surrounding the song contest because of Israel’s participation.
The show closed with a final performance from Westlife, singing
Friday night's season finale failed to address mounting speculation that host Patrick Kielty may not return for a fourth season.
Anticipation had been building in recent weeks about whether the Co Down native would renew his contract with the national broadcaster.
