"If you were going out for a night in Ireland, The Late Late Show is the exact same experience - except you're staying in," says Patrick Kielty.
"If you go out to a pub there’s a really good chance that someone will tell you a really cracking story and you’ll laugh and just as you’re laughing, someone will come in and give you some really bad news and then it will get serious for a bit, then someone will sing..."
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment in Studio 4 in RTÉ as preparations get under way for tonight’s new season of The Late Late Show, 53-year-old Co Down man Kielty is as sharp and wry as ever.
"The Late Late Show only works in Ireland," he says. "I’ve tried to explain to English people who work in TV many times what it is and they all say, 'What? All in one show?’ They all say the same thing and I say 'All in one show.' That’s what makes the Late Late unique."
"I think dad would be the life and soul of the Green Room if he was still around."
It’s been a busy summer for the new PK. Between a campervan expedition around his home county and a holiday in the south of France, he managed to fit in accepting an Honorary Doctorate from Ulster University and meeting the Pope with fellow comedians Whoopi Goldberg and Tommy Tiernan.
Now he’s back in the hot seat in Studio 4 for his second season of a faster, funnier and more irreverent Late Late.
Asked if there will be more changes in the new season, Kielty says: "Not as many as last year. I think when a new host comes in there is obviously going to be a new style and the show looks a little different.
"The heart of The Late Late Show is that someone who doesn’t know someone can come along and there will be a wee spark. While I’m really looking forward to doing things differently, I don’t own The Late Late Show. The audience owns The Late Late Show and I try very much to give people the show they want."
As his moving interview with the Stardust families last season revealed, heavier topics are something that Kielty has shown he has a feel for.
"The problem with booking Oasis is that you think you've agreed a certain price for them but by the time you actually get round to it and pay them, the price might be higher. If Noel was in the parish at all, I’d be happy to talk to him."
"Meeting the Stardust families was a very moving show," he says. "That show was very special. My dad was a showband promoter so music and dance halls are in my blood..."
His father Jack Kielty was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries in 1988 when he was just 44 and Patrick was just 16. The proud son has always kept his dad’s memory and legacy alive but what would Jack Kietly make of Patrick in his latest role?
"I’d say there’d be a few production notes... 'Are you sure you want to do it that way?'" Kielty Jr laughs. "I think he'd be bowled over, to be honest. I remember as a kid my job was to flick the switch from UTV aerial to the RTÉ aerial so we could watch Gay on the Late Late. I think Dad would be the life and soul of the Green Room if he were still around."
Like all chat show hosts, Kielty has his own list of dream guests. So, when are Liam and Noel rocking up to Studio 4 and could that Green Room hold them, anyway?
"I hope Ryan thinks I'm doing a good job."
"If you can book them, I’ll happily talk to them!" Kielty says. "The problem with booking Oasis is that you think you’ve agreed a certain price for them but by the time you actually get round to it and pay them, the price might be higher! If Noel was in the parish at all, I’d be happy to talk to him."
He adds: I think a dream guest is always someone who means something to Irish people. I think we’ve been really, really lucky for the first show of the new season. We’ve been chasing Rory McIlroy for the best part of a year and we finally managed to have some time with him and he was a great sport.
"We went up to see him at Royal County Down Golf Course and we had a bit of a surprise for him, which blindsided him a wee bit so watch this space."
Asked what he thinks "the former guy" (that’d be Tubs, readers) makes of him taking over, Kielty says: "I hope he thinks I’m doing a good job. I think that whenever you’re the host of The Late Late Show, you’re the keeper of the lighthouse. So, like Gay, and Pat and Ryan before, I’m on that list of - 'You’re taking it here and you’re passing it onto someone else'."
Of course, Kietly made some very good quips about the national broadcaster in his first season on the Late Late but as a seasoned media man and the host of the station’s flagship show, he also has some very serious views about the future of RTÉ.
"Whenever you work in this building and you see how many people have been affected by what’s going on and what’s coming down the line, one of the things that I always think is a brilliant thing about this building is that it is full of world-class people making world-class stuff," he says.
"I think the sooner things settle down and everybody knows where they’re going and what the direction of travel is - then we can get on with making world-class programmes."
Right now there’s a show to make and Kielty has to go. Before he heads off, I ask him what’s home life like for "TV power couple" Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty?
"It’s great!" he grins. "It's very power couple stuff, with a six-year-old coming in and jumping on your head at six o’clock in the morning and pretending they can’t sleep because they just want to snuggle in with their mum and trying to juggle breakfast times and school runs... it’s very much ALL glamour. Not!"
The Late Late Show is on RTE One and RTÉ Player tonight at 9.35pm.
