Ryan Tubridy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ryan Tubridy
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Tubridy in 2018
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| Born | 28 May 1973 Booterstown, Dublin, Ireland
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| Nationality | Irish |
| Education | Carysfort National School Blackrock College |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin (BA) |
| Occupation | Broadcaster, writer |
| Employer | Virgin Radio UK from 4 January 2024 |
| Agent | Noel Kelly |
| Known for | The Tubridy Show and The Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio 1 The Full Irish and Tubridy on RTÉ 2fm All Kinds of Everything, Tubridy Tonight and The Late Late Show on RTÉ One |
| Spouse(s) | Anne Marie Power (divorced) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives |
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Ryan Tubridy (born 28 May 1973) is an Irish broadcaster. His broadcasting career with RTÉ spanned over two decades, where he presented many shows on radio and television, most notably The Late Late Show on RTÉ One from 2009 to 2023. Other shows he presented include RTÉ 2fm's The Full Irish (2004–2009) and Tubridy (2010–2015), RTÉ One's Tubridy Tonight (2004–2009), RTÉ Radio One's The Tubridy Show (2005–2010) and The Ryan Tubridy Show (2015–2023). He also hosted the Rose of Tralee contest on two occasions and worked for BBC Radio. In January 2024 he is scheduled to join Virgin Radio UK in London to present its mid-morning programme.
Tubridy wrote several books, including JFK in Ireland, The Irish Are Coming and Patrick and the President. He was known as the highest-paid person at RTÉ over several years; related controversies included his refusal to take a voluntary pay cut in 2009, and, most importantly for his career, in 2023 over misstatement of his total earnings and additional payments, at least some made via a costly "barter account" mechanism. The latter scandal led to RTÉ discontinuing Tubridy's services in August 2023.
Contents
Background and early life
Birth and education
Born in Booterstown, Dublin, in 1973, Tubridy was educated at Carysfort National School and Blackrock College. He studied for his Bachelor of Arts (BA) in history and Greek and Roman civilisation at University College Dublin (UCD), where he was a member of the Fianna Fáil Kevin Barry Cumann and was active in the Students' Union and Belfield FM as well as the Dún Laoghaire branch of Ógra Fianna Fáil. Experienced in Greek and Latin, he was schooled alongside Craig Doyle and Ryle Nugent.
Ancestry
One of five children, Tubridy's siblings are Judith, Niall, Rachel and Garrett. Niall is a Professor of Clinical Medicine and one of the country's leading neurologists. Garrett ran unsuccessfully for the Pembroke-Rathmines ward of Dublin City Council at the 2009 local elections. During the election campaign Ryan was advised against making public appearances alongside his brother.
His father, Patrick Tubridy of Blackrock, who died in January 2013, was a medical practitioner and the only son of the Fianna Fáil TD Seán Tubridy (1897–1939). Seán Tubridy was the only son of Patrick Tubridy (1869–1920) and Jane Waldron (born 1868).
Tubridy's mother is Catherine (née Andrews), whose father, Todd Andrews, was a prominent associate of Fianna Fáil founder Éamon de Valera and held a number of posts in semi-state companies. A maternal uncle, Niall Andrews, was a TD and MEP, while another maternal uncle, David Andrews, was an Irish Government minister. Two of his first cousins, Barry Andrews and Chris Andrews, have also sat in Dáil Éireann as Fianna Fáil TDs, the former being a Minister of State for Children in the coalition government of Brian Cowen, since then becoming chief executive of aid charity GOAL, while the latter was re-elected to Dáil Éireann as a Sinn Féin member in 2020. Another first cousin, David Andrews Jr, is a comedian who works under the pseudonym of David McSavage.
Broadcasting career
Though later noted for his perceived bookishness, it was television films that interested Tubridy as a child; he wrote to RTÉ at the age of 12, to complain that there should be more of those on TV for the likes of him and others who were his age. RTÉ responded by inviting Tubridy to review films on its Saturday morning programme Anything Goes, and so began a long relationship with the broadcaster.
Tubridy's association with broadcasting and books began later, when he was reviewer on Poporama.
RTÉ
Radio
After leaving college Tubridy became a runner in RTÉ, initially working on The Gerry Ryan Show as maker of tea and coffee. Tubridy said at the death of Gerry Ryan that "The moment I set foot in RTÉ, he put his wing around me and said: 'I like what you do. I like what you are. I'm going to look after you.'" He credits Ryan for his kindness "in a place which is so full of ego and bizarre resentment". Tubridy was also influenced by the "nerd made good" style of British broadcaster Chris Evans.
Later he worked as a reporter for Today with Pat Kenny, as well as occasionally presenting the radio news show Five Seven Live. In the summer of 1999, Tubridy presented Morning Glory on RTÉ Radio 1 and in July 2000 he moved to The Sunday Show. From 2002 until 2005 he presented RTÉ 2fm's morning breakfast show, The Full Irish. The move to the morning by Head of 2fm John Clarke was seen as risky, with station insiders disapproving and Hot Press publishing a double-page editorial with the headline "station in turmoil". Within one year its ratings had soared and Tubridy was given a major award. When The Full Irish ended it was the second most popular radio programme in Ireland, after Morning Ireland. Clarke later described moving Tubridy to the morning as the best decision of his 25-year career in radio.
In 2006, Tubridy began presenting The Tubridy Show, on weekday mornings on RTÉ Radio 1. Around this time, he wrote a column for the Sunday World in which he expressed amongst other things his support for Barack Obama, "one of his favourite singers" Fionn Regan and the success of Kenny Egan, a silver medal winning boxer at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He later interviewed Said Obama, the uncle of U.S. President Barack Obama for The Tubridy Show. Tubridy hinted he would consider moving to new pastures if the opportunity arose.
After the death of Gerry Ryan, Tubridy's friend and colleague, Tubridy was the subject of rumours by various newspapers that he would be succeeding him in the RTÉ 2fm slot, becoming RTÉ's top earner with a salary of €1 million. In June 2010, RTÉ confirmed that Tubridy would in fact fill that slot from August, presenting a programme called Tubridy from 09:00 to 11:00. His salary remained unchanged. In an RTÉ press release, he was quoted as saying: "In my new role on RTÉ 2fm I will be presenting a programme that will be very different, with a different time slot, and a different style of presenting." To allow for presenting The Late Late Show, his show was only two hours long, compared to the 3 hours that Gerry Ryan's show lasted. However JNLR figures released in July 2011 revealed Tubridy had lost over 110,000 listeners since the move.
After finishing The Tubridy Show on 16 July 2010, he began presenting Tubridy on RTÉ 2fm on 20 August 2010, surprising listeners by starting the programme three days earlier that what was originally scheduled for 23 August. His first guest on the programme was Bono. His RTÉ Radio 1 slot was filled by John Murray. Tubridy became synonymous with declining listenership figures, a 40% collapse of which by 2011 coincided with increased listenership figures for its rival The Ray D'Arcy Show.
Tubridy returned to RTÉ Radio 1 in September 2015 to host The Ryan Tubridy Show, an hour-long weekday morning show. On 17 August 2023, it was confirmed that Tubridy would not return to his presenting role in RTÉ after negotiations with RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst collapsed in the wake of the RTÉ secret payment scandal. He had been off-air since the revelations broke.
Television
Tubridy was presumed heir to Gay Byrne as presenter of The Late Late Show as early as 2003, when he was about to take over as presenter of the Rose of Tralee, another of Byrne's former roles. At that time, Tubridy had never presented a live television programme.
After graduating from reviewing films as a child, Tubridy initially limited his TV appearances, preferring to concentrate on radio instead. He tried on a wedding outfit on fashion magazine show Off the Rails and appeared on The Panel.
He refused RTÉ's leading afternoon TV programme Open House, upon discovering that it required his services on Fridays only. His first serious effort at his own TV show was All Kinds of Everything, a music nostalgia programme that took its title from the song of the same name, which, as a schoolgirl, Dana sang at the Eurovision Song Contest 1970. Before this had even been broadcast, however, Tubridy had been offered the Rose of Tralee presenting vacancy, which he accepted. RTÉ was set on Derek Mooney, but festival organisers objected and Tubridy landed the role.
Tubridy presented the EsatBT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition at the Royal Dublin Society, in 2003 and 2004. He presented the RTÉ People in Need Telethon in 2004 and 2007.
In October 2004, Tubridy Tonight began. This was his own live Saturday night talk show, seen as a successor to Kenny Live (formerly Saturday Night Live). Tubridy initially announced his intention to take over the hosting of The Late Late Show from Pat Kenny but he later stated that he would remain as host of Tubridy Tonight, describing it as his "Jim'll Fix It job" and "little fun-size legacy".
However, it was announced on 11 May 2009 that Tubridy would indeed succeed Pat Kenny as host of The Late Late Show. He vowed to bring back Gay Byrne's "one for everybody in the audience" catchphrase, described by Will Hanafin in the Irish Independent as an attempt to "dig up more old relics than archaeologists would on an excavation", in reference to Tubridy's passion for history. Tubridy said he was "very taken aback" to learn he had been selected, describing it as "a humbling honour to be asked to present such an iconic programme". His role as host allowed him to fulfill a childhood ambition – presenting The Late Late Toy Show – "I know this is the one that I always wanted. I love the fact that children are uncontaminated by the reality of adulthood". Tubridy Tonight concluded on 30 May 2009.
Tubridy's first guest on The Late Late Show was Taoiseach Brian Cowen, an interview that drew an audience share of 62 per cent. Gay Byrne, the original host, was one of Tubridy's guests in December 2009.
Tubridy often clashed with his guests. In May 2011, a former director of television at RTÉ, Helen O'Rahilly, said of The Late Late Show: "If I was back in charge of RTÉ, you wouldn't see this utter shite on Friday night".
On 16 March 2023, Tubridy announced that he would be stepping down as the presenter of The Late Late Show after 14 years. His last show was broadcast on 26 May at the end of the 2023 season. Tubridy requested a "low key/no fuss" finale and no wrap party was held between Tubridy and his production team after the final episode aired, and there were no speeches. Patrick Kielty was announced as Tubridy's successor.
BBC Radio
In July 2010, Tubridy's agent Noel Kelly confirmed that Tubridy was offered by the BBC to present a summer filler for Jonathan Ross's BBC Radio 2 programme. He turned down the offer citing preparations for The Late Late Show and the recent death of Gerry Ryan. It was confirmed that Tubridy would present the slot for eight weeks from 23 July 2011, covering for Ross' replacement, Graham Norton.
Tubridy sacrificed his Christmas holidays in 2011 to work for the BBC again, this time as a replacement for Ken Bruce on Radio 2. Amid constant media criticism related to declining listenership and viewership figures, he received support from Chris Evans and was defended by Vincent Browne. Tubridy has also stood in for Chris Evans on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, and Simon Mayo on the Radio 2 drivetime slot. In 2015, he has also stood in on Terry Wogan's weekend show on Sunday.
Role as the Toy Man
Tubridy has spoken of the personal pleasure he takes from his role as the Toy Man, an effect created by his annual presenting of The Late Late Toy Show, which he did ahead of Christmas for fourteen editions of the programme between 2009 and 2022. As reported by RTÉ, this "isn't the only night he gets to be the Toy Man. That, he said, is a role he gets to play every day". Tubridy explained: "When you guys aren't here and the Toy Show isn't on, I'm walking around Clifden (in County Galway) or Dublin or wherever, and you're the Toy Man to children, all year round. It is one of the greatest, weirdest gifts I've ever been given".
In November 2022, ahead of what turned out to be his last edition of the Toy Show, Tubridy visited St Finian's National School in Finglas, where he was reminded of the Toy Man effect. He explained: "I looked through the window, and I'd forgotten the magic of the Toy Show and the Toy Man because jaws dropped, mouths were grabbed, eyes came out". Tubridy said that the children in each class he visited would ask him three questions: what age he was, why he had chosen to come to their school, and did he like Fanta?
Tuttle Productions Limited
The microcompany Tuttle Productions Limited was set up on 29 August 2008, with a registered address at Drayton Mews, Monkstown Road, Monkstown, County Dublin, and one shareholder. It is involved in "Radio and Television Activities".
During his time with RTÉ, Tubridy was not an employee, but was a contractor, and, as of 2011, was reported to be paying himself €283,756 a year from his production company, Tuttle Productions.
Virgin Radio UK
On 16 November 2023, it was announced that Tubridy will join Virgin Radio UK on 4 January 2024 to present its mid-morning programme live from London following The Chris Evans Breakfast Show.
Other activities
On 2 November 2011, Tubridy was MC and guest of honour for the launch of the Irish Film Archive Preservation Fund at the Irish Film Institute.
The following month he helped switch on the Christmas lights on Grafton Street.
Children's and cancer charities
Tubridy is a UNICEF ambassador. His interest in reading leads to his particular interest in childhood literacy.
Tubridy has also been associated with the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul Toy Appeal.
After The Late Late Toy Show Tubridy often sent his famous jumpers off to be auctioned for charity. The jumper he wore on his 2009 Toy Show debut found a suitable cause in the 2010 Haiti earthquake and was dispensed with on the radio programme Money. That jumper raised €1,050. The jumper he wore on the 2011 Toy Show he donated to the fund of artist Alexandra Trotsenko on the radio programme Liveline. €10,000 was raised for SVP from the auction of the infamous "Elf Christmas Jumper" after the 2012 edition of The Late Late Toy Show.
As well as his interest in the welfare of children, Tubridy has assisted in the promotion of other, more adult, initiatives, including the launch of a breast cancer initiative in May 2009.
In February 2015, Tubridy combined his long-running interests in children and cancer when he officially launched Galway's Hand in Hand support centre, which provides support and counselling services for parents of children with cancer.
Writing
For more than €100,000 HarperCollins signed Tubridy as part of a two-book deal. They wanted an autobiography but he persuaded them otherwise. Tubridy's first book, the 302-page long JFK in Ireland, was launched at the Mansion House, Dublin on 27 October 2010. It is a profile of U.S. President John F. Kennedy's 1963 visit to Ireland. While researching the book, he discovered that Éamon de Valera had part of John F. Kennedy's speech to Dáil Éireann erased from the record after finding its content offensive. In March 2012, Tubridy, referred to as a "tabloid star", made his American television debut, during which he discussed his book, JFK in Ireland. Tubridy's second book, The Irish Are Coming, about the influence of Irish people in the UK, was published by William Collins in 2013.
A first book for children, Patrick and the President, was later published. In 2017, to coincide with the centenary of John F. Kennedy's birth, Tubridy read to children from the book at a tea party in County Wexford.
Tubridy co-wrote the title track, "We Are Where We Are", of Paddy Cullivan's extended play, released in October 2010. The writer and broadcaster commented: "Paddy is a pal and we would have conversations a lot over a pint of Guinness". He also sang a song on The Late Late Toy Show in 2010, becoming the first host to do such a thing.
Personal life
Tubridy lived for many years in Monkstown in south Dublin, at one point in a €1 million+ refurbished Victorian end-of-terrace house which measured 240 square metres (2,600 square feet), but put up for sale in 2015, when he described it as "too much" for him. One report in 2023 suggested that he might now live in Clontarf.
He has claimed British broadcaster Sir David Attenborough as one of his heroes; prior to interviewing him on Tubridy Tonight in March 2009, Tubridy said he "grew up watching his nature programmes". Among his favourite films are The Queen and Frost/Nixon. Noted for interests ranging from U.S. politics (he took time off work to cheer on Barack Obama in that country's 2008 presidential election), Inspector Morse box sets (the lead character of which he described as "the morose and melancholic opera lover who deals with an inordinate amount of bloodshed in Oxford"), "real turf, the John Hinde donkey post card kind" and buying out-of-print history books on Amazon.com—while appearing on Seoige and O'Shea in April 2008, Tubridy ranked his top three books of the previous year as The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Christine Falls by Benjamin Black and Exit Ghost by Philip Roth. He is fond of the humour of Gerry Ryan and the fictional character Ross O'Carroll-Kelly. Before taking over as host of the Rose of Tralee in 2003, Tubridy admitted that he did not often make his own food, but that he was capable of frying onions and liked to buy adult portions of kiddies meals.
Family
Tubridy met his wife, the producer Anne Marie Power at RTÉ in 1997 when he spotted her in a recording studio. He later spoke of the moment they met: "She was going in to make a programme, I was going out. My head turned and my life changed. I pursued her relentlessly. She used to sashay down the corridor and I was quite taken by her. She was very erudite and she made documentaries on flamenco. She was much brighter than I am and continues to be, which isn't that hard really if you dig deep enough, and I asked her out." The couple had a daughter, Ella, and later married in 2003, Tubridy having proposed in the Abbeyglen Hotel (a "favourite haunt" of his) in Clifden, County Galway. The engagement was announced in The Irish Times with the words "Ella Tubridy is delighted to announce the engagement of her parents Ryan and Anne Marie". Tubridy visited Pompeii on his honeymoon.
Tubridy separated from his wife in 2006. They have two children, Ella and Julia.
Later relationship
After separating from his wife, Tubridy has been at various times involved with Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, a presenter of radio and television. In December 2014, Tubridy's agent Noel Kelly announced that he and Miss Ní Shúilleabháin had separated, saying "Aoibhinn and Ryan are no longer together".
In 2023, Tubridy was reported to be spending time with former Rose of Tralee winner, Clare Kambamettu.
Health
On 30 March 2020, RTÉ announced that Tubridy had tested positive for COVID-19. In a statement issued to RTÉ, Tubridy said "Like so many other people in Ireland, I tested positive, but I was in the very fortunate position to have a very unintrusive experience, which I now have come to the end of. While I've been at home watching television and listening to the radio, I have been bowled over by the extraordinary work of our front line heroes and their families who continue to make Ireland a healthier and safer place. I look forward to being back to work really soon." On 7 April 2020 he returned to work on his radio show saying that "I disappeared because I felt it was the right thing to do. And it was, in many ways, a useful thing for me to do because I was pretty tired anyway, and to take a couple of weeks to just to rest was really, a very, very good thing to do. I feel on top of the world today."
Image
In his early career, Tubridy often described himself as a "young fogey".
Dermot Whelan, Dave Moore and Siobhan O'Connor of radio station 98FM rewrote the Steps song "Tragedy" to include lyrics which make personal references to Tubridy before playing it on their morning radio show. The song pokes fun at his famous ears as well as his hairstyle with the line: "His ears stand up like the FA Cup, he sits in his chair chatting with Holy Communion-style hair". Tubridy himself rang the show to congratulate Dermot, Dave and Siobhan on their achievement of "taking the mick out of him" with a song of "pure ego" that caused him to "burst out laughing when I saw it". He was less pleased when Gordon Ramsay, appearing as a guest on The Late Late Show, poked fun at his ears and weight; Tubridy later remarked on The Ray D'Arcy Show: "I thought he was a bit, em, British for my liking. I won't be buying the books [Ramsay was promoting]. In fact, I didn't take the free one".
While hosting Tubridy Tonight, he spoke of the public's perception of him, saying: "I think I am a victim of my own image. I think it's been cultivated by others for me. I live in a very ordinary semi-detached house. People only ever see me on a Saturday night on TV and I'm in a smart suit with a book-lined backdrop so that's what they think – you're Johnny smart suit with a book-lined backdrop."
Awards and recognition
Tubridy won the Best Irish DJ category at the 2004 Meteor Awards for his breakfast show, The Full Irish.
Tubridy was named Best Male TV Presenter at the TV Now Awards in 2009. He collected the award for "Favourite Irish TV Show" from then girlfriend Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, won by The Late Late Show at the 2010 awards. The Dubliner magazine awarded him the title Dubliner of the Year in 2009. Village named him 29th most influential person of 2009.
On 15 March 2023, Tubridy received the Guaranteed Irish Person of the Year Award for 2023, with the presenter described as having "long been a supporter of Guaranteed Irish" and highlighting "his continued championing of Irish business, support of Irish brands, and overall embodiment of the core values of Guaranteed Irish".
In May 2023, Turbidy was awarded the President's Medal by the Library Association of Ireland for his work promoting reading and libraries.
