Ryan Tubridy reveals the reason for his resignation as host of the Late Late Show.
Tubridy (49) announced last March that he was stepping down as host of the show after 14 years and that he will present his final program on May 26.
He said he believes the decision was a “grown-up” decision and doesn’t think he was “always been a great grown-up”.
“My life was lived in the glare of the limelight for 20 years, so yes that was one of the reasons. I wanted to turn that light down,” he told the new edition of the RTÉ Guide. “I just think I had my fill of being public property at that level. I’ve always accepted that fame was part and parcel of the job, but you hit an age and think: ‘That was lovely, but I don’t want to play that game anymore.’ Last summer, the seeds were sown in my head, but it got short circuited in the last few months,” reports Independent.
Mr Tubridy said he doesn’t tend to “read the mean stuff,” but instead listens “to the good people” he meets on the street and those who watch the show every week like “they are more important” to him, reports Independent.
He added that he felt it was a “a difficult transition” and “strange”.
He praised his daughters Ella and Julia for the sacrifices they have made since taking office and described his mother Catherine as his “biggest fan”, adding that she might even be relieved from his decision to quit.
“My mother said, after I got the job, that every show for her was like watching a boxer going to a ring, because afterwards she’d buy the newspaper and go, ‘What is this?’ I’d say to her, ‘Don’t be buying that’ and that ‘I’ll know when it was time to hang up the gloves.’ And here we are,” reports Independent.
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