Kathryn’s Rosy 2024
After 25 years presenting TV shows, the talented star says she will be back in Tralee next year with co-host Dáithí
KATHRYN Thomas is set to return as co-host at next year’s Rose of Tralee.
Speaking to the Irish Mail on Sunday, the talented presenter said that while it hasn’t been confirmed yet, ‘as far as I know I’ll be doing it again next year’.
Thomas put in an impressive performance at her debut Rose of Tralee last year alongside the show’s long-serving host and local favourite, Dáithí Ó Sé.
‘I obviously did the Rose of Tralee last year, which was a huge undertaking,’ said Thomas.
‘I loved it; I absolutely loved it.
‘It was brilliant to work with Daithi… he’s been doing it for 12 years’
And it seems that Thomas impressed
‘It was brilliant to work with Dáithí’
RTÉ bosses with her debut stint, and is poised to return to the famed Rose of Tralee Dome in 2024.
She told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘I need to get in and talk to them about what they want me to do next year, but with the Rose of Tralee, while I haven’t got it officially confirmed, as far as I know I’ll be doing it again’.
The talented Co. Carlow native has hosted a wide range of shows on the national broadcaster for more than a quarter of a century.
And she insists she loves her job as much as she did when she started out as a 19-year-old-hopeful.
‘I’m in TV 25 years now,’ she said. ‘I actually met up with [former
Dublin GAA star and Kathryn’s co-presenter Jason Sherlock on the sports show Rapid] last week
– he was my very first television husband.
‘I was 19-years-of-age… jaysus, when you think about it,’ she laughed.
‘But I still love it. I just feel very grateful that I love getting up every day and going to work.’
Thomas is looking forward to a busy 2024 as she returns to the helm of RTÉ’s Operation Transformation on January 7.
While she is content with her current workload, Thomas acknowledged there are some gigs that are simply too good to turn down, if the opportunity arises.
‘No presenter in RTÉ who has been there as long as I have… hasn’t thought about doing the Late Late [Show]. But I’m really happy with where I’m at; I love the variety of the shows I get to work on. But that doesn’t mean you don’t think about other things, like the Late Late.’
But she is effusive in her praise of current Late Late host Patrick Kielty, who she said has been ‘brilliant’ since taking over the helm of the iconic chat show from Ryan Tubridy.
‘I think he’s made it his own. I thought the Toy Show was brilliant,’ she said.
She also praised Kielty’s professionalism and handling of the hidden payments controversy that engulfed the crisis-hit national broadcaster just prior to him taking up the role.
‘I think, fair play to him. Considering [he is] coming in in a way he wouldn’t have imagined, or could have ever predicted, I think he’s doing a really fantastic job.’
‘I love getting up every day and going to work’