Ryan Tubridy: The future is so bright but I couldn't see that for a while and it was difficult
Ryan Tubridy at The Crown finale celebration at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Picture: Ian West/PA Wire
Ryan Tubridy has spoken about his departure from RTÉ and the worry he felt for his mother when he was in the news earlier this year.
Tubridy did not have his contract renewed by RTÉ following the scandal surrounding secret payments made to him, which led to his departure in August.
RTÉ under-reported the salary paid to Tubridy and failed to disclose €345,000 of additional payments to him between 2017 and 2022.
Tubridy spoke to Doireann Garrihy on her podcast, The Laughs of Your Life, and said he received much support from the public since his departure from RTÉ.
He joined her on the final episode of the podcast’s ninth season, recorded beside a Christmas tree.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t wear a Christmas jumper — those days are behind me now,” he quipped.
Tubridy, who starts a new radio job in London next month, said the outpouring of support he experienced was overwhelming.
“People seem to be quite invested in my story, you know, for better or for worse, but mostly for better. I've never been hugged so much since I was a child by mostly women in supermarkets of a certain age.”
He said that extends online, with Instagram in particular being a positive place for him. Tubridy left Twitter in recent years due to the rise of trolls but says Instagram is a “nice place” where he has been receiving support and advice from his followers.
“I have found support and love in so many corners and it's been lovely,” he said.
Reflecting on his initial decision to leave the Late Late Show, Tubridy said he felt “joy, happiness, relief, absolute comfort in my decision” when he finished as host in May.
“I was so happy that I chose to go when I did. It was a little earlier than I was contractually obliged to go but I knew in my heart — I’d heard before, certain presenters say that if you're not feeling it, don't stick around and I started to not feel it. If I'd stuck around for another season, it would have been unfair to the team, to the viewers, to myself.”
He added he felt burnt out after the pandemic, which was a major factor in his decision to leave.
“I just was out of juice. Covid whacked me, it took so much out of me.” Tubridy said after he left the Late Late, he was “so happy with life and I was facing into the summer on the radio” as well as planning television and podcast projects before the RTÉ payments scandal unfolded.
He said he was worried about his mother over the summer and how upset she might be reading some of the things written about him.
“She's just an Irish mammy, she's fantastic. During ‘the thing’ she was great. She was in hospital for a lot of it. That was one of the things I found quite difficult was when I was being thrashed by certain quarters and the odd person and I thought, I don't mind you thrashing me but do you have any idea the pain you might be causing people around me.”
He said his mother has a “tough skin” and revealed she offered to join him in the Oireachtas for support.
Tubridy is looking forward to his move to London after Christmas and said the Virgin Radio gig was one of many job offers to come his way.
“The future is so bright now, but I couldn't see that for a little while there recently and gosh, it was difficult,” he said, adding how many offers of work he has had since.
“Especially in the UK, the offers started to roll in. I mean, they rolled in here but when you've done the Late Late Show, it's hard to go anywhere else in Ireland and I don't mean that disrespectfully.”
He said the relative anonymity afforded to him in the UK is another appeal. “I can't tell you how joyful it is to sit on the Tube as a ghost. That’s what makes London so attractive.”
He described 2023 as an “annus horribilis” for him but with his impending move he is looking forward to a fresh start.
“Sometimes an annus horribilis can become something much better. What the Romans would also call an annus mirabilis. And that is an amazing year. I end 2023 on a very positive note and I'm giddy with excitement for 2024.”
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