Oliver Callan on getting called to replace Ryan Tubridy: ‘Sounded like somebody had died’

Stephen Porzio

Callan told JOE about his experience of taking over Tubridy’s RTÉ Radio 1 morning slot after the secret payments scandal.

Oliver Callan has opened up to JOE about what it was like filling in for Ryan Tubridy on his RTÉ Radio 1 morning slot amid the much-publicised secret payments scandal that came to light last year.

Callan temporarily took over the position as the bombshell revelations emerged before later being made permanent in the role.

The impressionist and presenter appeared on the latest episode of JOE podcast You Must Be Jokin’ where he discussed with hosts Eric Lalor and Willa White the pressure of stepping in for Tubridy.

“It was the weirdest thing because I was phoned in June which would have been the hours before the famous statement was released which said Ryan Tubridy and the secret payments and everything,” Callan recounted.

“It was like: ‘What are you doing tomorrow? Are you free to come in?’ and I said: ‘Yeah I am.’ It’s June. I usually have a nice gentle summer anyway because Callan’s Kicks is autumn and spring and I don’t do so many gigs in the summer.

“It almost sounded like somebody had died and they couldn’t tell me why I’m coming on or whatever. I found out obviously with the statement and went: ‘Okay, wow. That’s why he’s not coming in there’.”

Callan said he first assumed he would only replace Tubridy for a couple of days but then “more and more revelations” came to light.

“It literally just started out as overpayments to Ryan Tubridy that weren’t published and then, you get into Toy Show: The Musical – which I always thought was the bigger scandal just for the sheer volume of money involved,” he explained.

“It was like €3 million and the fact that someone could make that decision with no consequences for them and lose €2 million on it.”

Specifically on replacing Tubridy, he added: “It was weird doing his show with his team and they weren’t sure what was going on.

“In RTÉ… it was well-reported that the staff were very angry with Ryan Tubridy and management so you’re going in [thinking]: ‘What do I do here?'”

He also said: “There was very much tension of – I presume all of the executives were going: ‘I hope you don’t mention the scandal on the very show where the scandal unfurled.'”

However, the famous impressionist said he felt that if he didn’t, it would be “very weak altogether”.

“So I kind of did awkward jibes [about it] for a bit,” Callan added.

You can watch Callan make the comments below. The full episode of You Must Be Jokin’ is available wherever you get podcasts.

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