“I’m not much of a crier, but I did.”
Ryan Tubridy has opened up about his shocking RTÉ exit and the ensuing saga in a recent podcast interview.
Speaking on the Doireann and Friends podcast with his former colleague Doireann Garrihy, the ex Late Late Show host said that he “run out of juice” leading up to his exit in May.
The 50-year-old left the broadcaster after 14 years at the helm of the popular Irish talk show. His departure occurred before the fallout from the RTÉ payments scandal put him back in the spotlight with an appearance before the Oireachtas committee.
Ryan Tubridy opens up on leaving RTÉ in shock podcast appearance
“I was so happy I chose to go when I did,” Ryan said on the podcast.
“It was a little earlier than I was contractually obliged to go but I knew in my heart [the time was right].”
“I heard before from certain presenters that ‘if you’re not feeling it, don’t stick around.’ And I started to not feel it.
“If I stuck around for another season, it would have been unfair to the team, to the viewers, [and] to myself.
“I was just out of juice,” he continued. “[Presenting during] COVID whacked me. It just took so much out of me… the feeling was either we’re going off the air, or take on the virus.”
Tubridy is set to begin a new role as host of his own radio show on Virgin Radio in the UK, which will also air on Q102 in Ireland.
Recalling his final appearance, Tubridy added that he was satisfied with his special final episode of the Late Late after so many years at the helm.
“The last Late Late Show was a joy,” he said. “My family was there, I had a little tear — and I’m not much of a crier, but I did.
“Paul McCartney did a video message, I was in heaven. I just thought ‘this is a joy’. Being in Clifden over the summer then, just thinking ‘didn’t we do okay?'”
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