Ryan Tubridy is protecting the 2017 Late Late Toy Show secrets like a lioness would her cubs: “All I can say is that I’m going to go to a place I’ve never been before. In terms of the show theme and the set, it will be very different. My role will very likely leave me red-faced.”

Irish Country Living asks is he excited or scared? “How do you think Willy Wonka felt when he approached the gate to the five kids with the golden tickets? I used to be Charlie Bucket in RTÉ – and now I am Willy Wonka.”

The Late Late Toy Show is undeniably a national institution and the ones presented by Ryan have become synonymous with high-energy, dance routines, costumes and Christmas jumpers. Last year he famously dressed up as Baloo the bear from Jungle Book – and the whole country is waiting with bated breath to see what he has in store on Friday night.

“The people behind the show have gone mad trying to get me to do things that are completely stupid. They try and get as many jumpers on me as possible. I think it’s really my colleagues’ revenge: they get a lot off their chests, I think,” he laughs.

There is a whole rail in RTÉ’s costume department dedicated to Christmas jumpers that get sent into Ryan: he usually receives 30 to 40 a year. These then get whittled down to the lucky few that make the cut on the night.

In his own words, Ryan describes the Late Late Toy Show as “a cuddly juggernaut driven by a unicorn on a road made out of rainbows”.

He adds, on a more serious note, that he believes much of the show’s enormous popularity can be attributed to it being huge fun in a world that is sometimes not.

“I think life is so grim for people and the news is so awful, especially at the moment: whether it’s domestic or international, Brexit or the other stuff going on. People are sick and tired of misery, and this show is an enormous splash of colour in a grey world.

“I’m 44-years-old, but on the Late Late Toy Show night I’m nine. Embracing that inner nine-year-old on a Friday night, I think that’s what happens, people have fond memories and a lot of nostalgia comes with that.”

Going zany

The aim of most TV presenters is to make sure everything goes to plan, but Ryan is a little different, he loves when things get a little zany and go completely off course: “I love stuff going wrong: I pray for a doll’s house to collapse, I pray for a remote control car to lose the run of itself and keep crashing repeatedly into the side of the set.

“I love when foam gets out of control and silly string won’t stop spraying. The messier, the gunkier, the slimier the better. Life is never perfect, nor is Christmas morning ever perfect and the Late Late Toy Show should reflect that,” he explains.

Letter of complaint

Ryan first dipped his toes into RTÉ at the age of 12. After writing a letter to complain about there being no films in the cinema for children his age. He was invited to review some movies on a children’s programme. From those humble beginnings, he has gone on to become the biggest name in Irish broadcasting.

Speaking to Ryan, it is evident why he is so successful in interviewing people: you instantly feel as if you know him and he makes you feel like you are friends. Despite this skill, with striking honesty, he admits that he still gets nervous before the Late Late Show on a Friday night.

“I get nervous every Friday night. I think you would want to be a robot or an alien not to be nervous. It’s a big deal: you are going out to talk to the guts of 600,000 people. That is a lot of Croke Parks.

“My first love is radio, because it’s so intimate. I don’t get nervous on the radio. It’s like going to the kitchen table in the morning and saying: ‘God, did you see that?’ It’s just like a little morning club for an hour with some friends; it’s very relaxing. TV gives you something else. TV is like a bungee jump after 15 red bulls.”

He may be the Willy Wonka of RTÉ, but for one night each year he returns to being the Charlie Bucket he started out as – and every person watching their TV screens on Friday night will make that journey along with him. CL