2023 is set to be a red letter year for Ryan Tubridy, as he made clear at RTÉ's New Season launch last week. At the helm of The Late Late Show for his 14th year, Tubs is also turning 50 in May and knee-deep in reflecting on the journey so far.
When asked what his bucket list items are for the year ahead, he quipped: "Well, I hope I don't kick it."
"I've had a lovely summer, great holiday. I'll be 50 next May, it does weigh on your mind, I'm not going to pretend that it doesn't, but not in a negative way."
"Forty was a bit ughh", he added, "and 50 is a different prospect altogether because you stop giving a damn, really, about what people think of you. You don't really take on board the bullsh*t, you just live your life as you want it, as long as you're kind and civil, if you can be both those things.
"I've achieved a lot in my life, I've had a very charmed existence, been very fortunate. I'm open to new ides, of course. I'm ready."
During the two years of the pandemic, as the country moved in and out of lockdowns, The Late Late Show became a source of vital information for the public, something Tubridy understands and sees as a form of social responsibility.
"The show did change gear. It suddenly became this town hall and you were like the mayor, saying, 'listen we're all in trouble as a country and we'll try and help you through this'", he said.
From there, the show began responding to the needs of the viewers, whether it was a surge in people suffering from depression leading to a one million donation to Pieta from viewers, or two million donated to St. Vincent de Paul as people started to feel the pinch in their wallets.
"Will we continue that? Not as much, we'll take the foot off that because it was [down to] time and place. We will of course reflect what's happening in the world in the way we do", he said.
With his own milestone in mind, Tubridy spoke about the changes he made to keep his own mental health sound. Central to this was staying off certain types of social media.
"I'm on Instagram, it's a very nice place to be. Very happy. It's not cruel", he said. "I was on Twitter, many years ago and I stopped and one of the great, most liberating things in my whole life I ever did was to take Twitter out. And despite what you might think, I don't trawl Twitter of a Friday night going, 'oh, I wonder what they're saying'. I don't care."
This came through in how he prepared his television and radio teams ahead of each new season: "We are not making television, and we are not making radio, for Twitter. We're making it for the Irish people. Twitter is 4 or 5 per cent, it's loud, it has a role but they will not be the judge of what we do."
Considering the heavy burden on his shoulders when it comes to informing and uplifting the nation, as well as the criticism that can be lobbed his way, Tubridy has a very simple method for keeping own life full of levity: "By ignoring all the things you've just outline, I ignore them all.
"It's actually really easy to do. If you just live off Instagram and read the newspapers online journals, just don't read underneath them.
"A few years ago I would have been so needy, and so weak of spirit, that I'd have to read it and I'd go off and nearly cry with how awful people are. Now, you don't have to and you just get on with the business."
