‘Toy Show’ ticket worth weight in gold

The Late Late Toy Show — consistently one of the most-watched programmes on Irish television — is as much a part of Christmas as turkey dinners and drunk uncles.

With just over a month to go until the annual yuletide extravaganza, the race is now on for 200 golden tickets.

Applications opened yesterday and, if the social media buzz is anything to go by, throngs of people have already put their names forward. Over 40,000 people applied last year.

Not even host Ryan Tubridy can hook you up — apparently he doesn’t have any tickets either.

The presenter said: “This is the sort of thing that follows me to supermarkets, taxis, buses… wherever I happen to be, someone will emerge from somewhere to say: ‘Ya wouldn’t have any tickets for the Late Late Toy Show by any chance, would ya?’ ”

While Tubs stressed the lottery-based draw for tickets was “democratic and fair” and totally random, the online form asks a range of personal questions and states: “Tickets are issued on the basis of the above information.”

So, chances are, if you have a moving story, a funny party piece, or you’re about to pop the question to your significant other, you may be in with a better shot than most.

But whether you’re one of the lucky few who do get tickets, or you’re tucked up in a onesie watching from the comfort of your couch, this year’s show promises to be a cracker.

And it seems that Tubs is gearing up for another song and dance routine, dusting off his dancing shoes after sleighing audiences last year with a Mary Poppins medley.

The host revealed that the new routine is bigger than ever, but said he would “be killed” if he gave anything else away.

More than 1.5m tuned in to the Toy Show in 2013, making it the most watched programme on any channel last year.

To apply for tickets to the Late Late Toy Show, go to rte.ie/tv/latelate

Applications close on November 14.