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01st Jul 2023

Late Late Show’s upcoming season will be a lot shorter, confirms RTÉ

Simon Kelly

The broadcaster also clarified whether Ryan Tubridy will return to radio next week.

RTÉ has confirmed that the next season of The Late Late Show will be nearly two-months shorter than recent seasons.

New host Patrick Kielty will head up 30 episodes per season, compared to recent seasons with 35-37 shows. The chat show typically finishes on the last weekend in May for its summer break and returns at the end of August or start of September for the winter season.

Kielty will take over from Ryan Tubridy, who has found himself embroiled in an ongoing controversy surrounding his undeclared payments from RTÉ. The broadcaster also revealed that Tubridy will not be returning to his radio show next week.

Patrick Kielty reveals his salary ahead of shorter Late Late Show run

The news comes days after the announcement of Kielty’s salary for hosting the iconic RTÉ chat show. The comedian revealed that he had signed a three season deal to host the show beginning this September. “I’m being paid €250,000 per 30 show season,” he said in a statement.

He will also receive a “one-off payment” of €20,000 to cover the pre-production and rehearsals from now to September, but has waived expenses of €50,000.

Choosing to remain living in London whilst hosting the show, Kielty’s statement revealed that he will also incur the cost of travel to and from Dublin;

“The contract allows me to submit flight and accommodation expenses, but I’ve waived this. I’ve made it clear to RTÉ that I will be covering my own flights and accommodation costs.

“I’ve also asked RTÉ to carbon offset my flights. I genuinely hope this helps clarify things going forward. I can’t wait to get started”.

At an event held last weekend in Belfast in which Kielty held a discussion with former world champion boxer Carl Frampton, the future Late Late presenter was asked about the recent revelations from the RTÉ Board.

However, he declined to comment on the situation and simply replied with, “I’d need a few more beers before I could talk about that.”

Kielty will begin hosting duties in September when the new season of The Late Late Show starts.

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