Departing Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy has joked that former guest Jamie Lee Curtis "killed me by accident" when she posted a tribute to him on her Instagram page.
Speaking on his RTÉ Radio 1 show on Tuesday morning ahead of his final Friday night on the Late Late, the presenter revealed how best wishes had inadvertently become condolences.
"You know, one of the people I loved to meet when she came in TV-wise was Jamie Lee Curtis. Great actress - and I was so happy that time when she won her Oscar," he told listeners.
"There's sometimes with a guest that comes in, you will click - it happens here all the time on the radio as well. It's humans; you just meet somebody and go, 'Wow, you're a buzzer and I'm up for this so let's sit down and talk'. It's like bumping into somebody in a lift or in a coffee shop. You just sometimes randomly get on with people. And it happens more sometimes with some and other times you go, 'Ah well, this isn't clicking but we'll get on fine'."
Tubridy said it was "just warmth, instantly" with Everything Everywhere All at Once and Halloween star Curtis.
"We'd got on very well and we'd stayed in touch a little bit off-air. Anyway, she sent a very nice Instagram post saying, 'We'll miss you' and 'So sorry you're gone' and this kind of thing.
"There was confusion then because people who had no idea who I am - that is to say pretty much all of her followers - were going, 'Oh, is he ok?' So essentially, she killed me!
"Jamie Lee Curtis kind of killed me by accident! It was death by kind adventure!"
Tubridy continued: "So this person got on to the comments and said, 'Oh no. I'm sorry for his family's loss'. (Laughs) And somebody, an Irish person, got involved and said, 'He's not dead!' To which the person responded, 'What happened to him?' To which the Irish person said, 'He just left the Late Late Show!' To which the American person said, 'Copy. Have no clue who he is. Glad he's ok, though'.
"End of exchange! All cleaned up and tidied up in the course of a few messages!"
Tubridy added that he has received "hundreds" of cards from people wishing him well.
"It's just so gratifying - and thank you," he said.
The Late Late Show, Friday, RTÉ One and RTÉ Player, 9:35pm
