Ryan Tubridy: RTE pay, gender gaps... and my Late Late future
As he head towards his tenth season helming RTE’s top entertainment show, Ryan Tubridy talks salaries, gender, Trump’s re-election... and why, despite loving kids, he’s not feeling broody
LAST Christmas Ryan Tubridy was willing to give Donald Trump a chance, in the hope that the President of the United States would change his ways — either that or impeachment, he said.
But in spite of the fact that Tubridy, who has long had a fascination with American politics, is not a fan of Trump in the slightest — so much so that he persuaded Hillary Clinton to reveal all about her fateful campaign on The Late Late Show — he has bad news for anyone who thinks the same.
Along with the Irish Daily Mail, he was among the first in Ireland to publicly predict that Trump would claim the White House — and he now believes he will secure a second term.
‘I think Trump will get four more years, I really do,’ he says. ‘Nobody saw Trump coming and I don’t think people are going to see him leaving. People are trying to put a few bob on Joe Biden — I don’t know how realistic an option that is but you can’t rule anything out anything.
‘The world is in a very topsy-turvy place and nothing is beyond fathom now.’
Of course, Tubridy keeps a close eye on events in the US and believes his RTÉ co-worker Caitriona Perry has done a sterling job tackling ‘The Donald’.
‘I think Caitriona has been a knockout in Washington,’ he says. ‘She has brought the colour and the heavy elements of the American news cycle to us. It’s not easy to do that light and shade thing but I think she has done it so well. I imagine handling Trump is a bit like what Lloyd George said about De Valera — it’s like trying to pick up mercury with a fork.’
But in 2018 Caitriona will be back in Ireland, ready to take on the new challenge of the Six One News with Keelin Shanley. It’s part of a wider shake-up in RTÉ after the station was rocked by a gender pay gap dispute.
But Tubridy believes the new Six One appointments were made completely on merit rather than gender.
‘I think the new pairing is a great idea, I respect the two of them,’ he says. ‘Keelin is rock solid and trustworthy, and between the two of them it’s a great decision. I also love having Bryan Dobson on Morning Ireland. I just love his voice and you hear him in the morning and think, yeah, I’m getting quality news.’
Fronting one of the country’s most popular TV shows for almost a decade — as well as his daily radio slot — has made Tubridy RTÉ’s highest paid presenter.
But he’s not oblivious to how lucky he is, nor is he to the cuts and upheaval at Montrose, given that he’s there every day.
‘I think it’s a fair to say that RTÉ is cleaning its house regarding the gender pay gap,’ Tubridy says. ‘Even the packages that they are offering people to go — I have met a number of people in the past week who are taking the package and are leaving with a spring in their step. They’re getting well paid to say goodbye. They’re looking for new opportunities and that prunes the branches on the organisation, which may have had too many branches. I think that’s good.
‘The gender pay gap was highlighted as an issue, they launched an investigation into it and they are dealing with it. It’s being acknowledged and it’s being fixed. It has been a big year but I believe that the powers-that-be have risen to the occasion and hats off to them for that.’
Tubridy’s own €495,000 annual salary comes under huge scrutiny when the figures are published every year, but he says he is well used to it by now.
‘I have learned to deal with the publishing of the pay figures,’ he says. ‘It’s okay, it’s what I do for a living. I always feel that the bosses decided that this was my value and I have accepted that as they have decided that.
‘It’s only right that it’s out there and it’s very transparent and the whole country knows what is happening — there’s no escaping that, it’s part and parcel of the job. People deserve to know and I am okay with that.’
As we chat in the RTÉ canteen, Tubridy gets a salute or a nod from by-passers, a celebrity even within the walls of Montrose.
Next season will signal his tenth at the helm of The Late Late Show. It was after ten years that Pat Kenny finished up, although Tubs is adamant it’s not a landmark he aims to bow out at. He does concede, however, that when his time does come, a first female host is a likely conclusion.
‘It does seem to me that it has flown by,’ he says. ‘When I think of the first show with Brian Cowen, Saoirse Ronan and Brian McFadden — that was quite a moment and it doesn’t feel that long ago. But I won’t allow myself to get too reflective on that.
‘I’m in year nine now and I think will wait for the tenth one before I start recollecting. I don’t think about succession but I would imagine that a female successor is very possible.’
But woe betide anyone who thinks they are in with a chance now — Tubridy’s determined he’s staying right where he is.
‘To be honest with you, it’s the last thing on my mind because I’m not going anywhere until I’m told different,’ he admits. ‘That is the nature of the job — it’s yours until they tell you different. I want it and I love it. The position is not vacant and I’m very serious about that.
‘I’m in a good place with the show and the backroom team. I like that
‘RTE are dealing with the gender pay gap issue’ ‘Trump will get four more years’
we take gutsy decisions to take someone like Samantha Power on the show, this intelligent smart woman who is a leading light for my daughters. Then we had Conor McGregor and Hillary Clinton. We have had a good run of things.’ There have been a number of ‘water cooler’ moments for the host in recent months. His latest interview with the UFC champion was a viral sensation, most notably as he was the first to tackle him on some homophobic comments that surfaced earlier on this year.
Tubridy says that he has made a conscious decision to be tougher with guests — and even gave Hollywood stars Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg an ultimatum that he would be asking the tough questions about Harvey Weinstein, or they wouldn’t be on the show.
‘McGregor was a tough one to handle because you don’t want to alienate people,’ he admits. ‘The homophobia question needed to be asked. It would have been much easier for him and me not to go there but it wouldn’t have done justice to the show.
‘Equally, I had Mel Gibson, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg on the show and I asked them about Harvey Weinstein. That’s something that would have caused ruffles and they would have much preferred if that question had not come up. But we were adamant and determined, and we made it our business to let them know that this was coming down the tracks.
‘It’s being asked whether they like it or not and if they don’t like it, they can lump it. We were very determined to get that in — you have to be.’
And although he’s asking the difficult questions, Tubridy has decided the best approach is the iron fist in a velvet glove.
‘I think in the past I handled things differently and I would maybe grandstand a little bit in trying to ask the hard question,’ he says, thoughtfully. ‘I reflect on that on the basis that it wasn’t working and it was misguided — it was totally my own decision to go pointy-finger on the guest and it didn’t work. ‘What I noticed was that if you dial it back and ask the same question but in a more relaxed manner, that yields results. It’s going well at the moment and it’s such a better way to be rather than grousing and griping and groaning.’ Tubridy grew up watching Gay Byrne front the iconic Friday night show and says he still finds it hard to believe the two are now friends, regularly having chats over a cup of coffee. ‘I remember as a child watching Gay on the Toy Show and he would have been doing this Victorian Christmas,’ Tubridy says. ‘He used to have the researchers who worked on the programme come on and show the toys. ‘I met him yesterday for coffee and I think sometimes of me as a kid watching him and then I go and meet him for coffee and it’s surreal, I’m in awe of him still. Even though we are friends I have such admiration and respect for him. ‘We’ll be chatting away about the show and I find myself going, “I can’t believe I do the show you did”. We have great conversations about the nature of the show in general and where it’s going, interviews and guests he liked, and ones I enjoyed.’ But despite the draw of Hillary Clinton, this Friday’s show is the biggest in the Late Late calendar, where Tubs and the studio will be transformed into a winter wonderland for the annual Toy Show. One of the highlights of RTE’s schedule and the most-watched programme on television, the Toy Show — a mix of the Smyth’s catalogue, a Billy Barrie class and The School Around The Corner — annually draws an audience of over 1 million viewers. This year, it has enlisted the Game of Thrones special effects unit to help create a winter wonderland. And while Ryan is keeping vague on the theme — which is always a big hit with the bookies — he gave a nod to a Disney movie that may be a bit more relevant to Ireland than some of the classics. It won’t be castles or princesses but he will be wearing a pair of bright red trousers which, he says, is a big hint to the direction they are taking.
On the night he will be joined on set by more than 285 children as we wait for the start of another year of hilarious interviews, awkward toy failures and one child stealing the show.
Watching the Toy Show is a tradition in households across Ireland, enchanting the young and evoking warm memories in the huge number of viewers who are now above the target age group. So what does one of Ireland’s most successful presenters get up to over the festive season?
‘I do love Christmas,’ he says. ‘It has been the same for nearly two decades — I go to my mother’s house for a Tubridy Christmas. We do family presents in the afternoon and then at about 4pm the first whiff of gin seeps into the room — the pre-dinner drink.
‘Then it’s the big turkey and bells and whistles, some music and Trivial Pursuit. Then it’s beer, more board games and food for the night. It’s very simple and straightforward but I would be so sad and discombobulated should and when that changes because it’s such a part of what we do and I like that.’
One of the reasons Christmas is sacrosanct for Tubridy now is that it changed forever back in 2013 when his father passed away. But he refuses to be maudlin over the loss and prefers to happily remember him each year with a toast and by playing his favourite David Essex song.
‘I’m not broody, that’s not an issue’
‘The dynamic changes but that’s okay too, you just march on,’ he says. ‘I will hear a Winter’s Tale by David Essex, which isn’t the greatest Christmas tune of all time but it reminds me of my dad, and it’s really nice. I love that and I love when people talk about someone who has passed away fondly.
‘It’s important not to do the Irish thing and not talk about it so I will raise a glass to my dad at Christmas. He liked the things I like, funnily enough. We both liked decorations that had a Victorian hue and little pictures of Victorian houses.
‘He liked being on his holidays and taking a break from work — we’re very similar like that. He loved the big fire and the cosiness of it all.
‘I live in a small mews house that is all bookshelves and fire. It is like a little log cabin — I call it the hug with a roof. The house was only built in the 1980s but I have turned it into an old retreat. It smells of smoke and leaves.’
But as a self-confessed ‘Christmas nut’, Tubridy does admit that he misses having young children of his own. His daughters Ella and Julia are teenagers now and are past that wonderful excitable age which makes Christmas extra special.
Although he is currently single, Tubridy insists the Toy Show does not make him broody, and he’s in no rush to add to his family.
‘No I’m not broody, that’s not an issue,’ he says. ‘When you think of it, when I’m hanging out with the kids on the Toy Show, I can relive a lot of that element of my own childhood and my kids’ childhoods again through their eyes. ‘It’s vicarious and I know that but it’ll do for
now.’