As Patrick Kiely gets ready to host his second season of the longest-running TV chat show in the world, he sits down with Michael Doherty to reflect on his dream job.
"Is that the sporting equivalent of the Difficult Second Album?!
Patrick Kielty is laughing heartily at the tongue-in-cheek suggestion that renewing hosting duties on The Late Late Show might be likened to what is known in sporting parlance as Second Season Syndrome. It refers to a football team who perform well above expectation during their first season, but end up crashing and burning the following term.
Sitting in the library of the family home in Dundrum, Co Down, Patrick Kielty is harbouring no such negative thoughts and declares himself fighting fit and itching to get back to the most famous job in Irish broadcasting. The summer recess proved to be more hectic than expected (of which more later), but the man is already in host mode.
"I'm up and running," says Paddy. "That’s the best way of putting it. When you're going into the first season of a TV show, you have to build a relationship with the audience. As a broadcaster, I know that's the most important thing.
"During my first season as host, I know a lot of people tuned in initially out of curiosity. Who the hell is this guy? Do we like the cut of his jib? I get the second season syndrome thing, but once an audience and a host get to know each other, then you can maybe say, OK, so you do trust me? Then let's go!"
Judging by the ratings (his first show as host was viewed by more than 830,000 people), the media reactions (both print and social) and feedback from the public, audiences clearly did like the cut of Patrick Kielty’s jib from the outset, and that proved to be the most surprising thing about the new host’s first season on the Late Late.
"If I'm being really honest," he explains, "easily the most surprising thing about last season was how kind the audiences were to me. I went in there thinking OK, do I have something to prove? But right from the get-go, I could feel that audiences were in my corner.
"When I first took over, there was lots of noise in the background about other stuff; stuff I couldn't do anything about. All I could concentrate on was the show itself. All that stuff about audiences and ratings can be very abstract, but when you're sitting in a pub and somebody comes over to share a few kind words, that was something I wasn't expecting!"
Being invited to become only the fourth permanent host of the most famous show in Irish television history is obviously an offer most broadcasters would find impossible to refuse. With the experience he gained in television (Paddy hosted the chat show, Patrick Kielty: Almost Live, for BBC One NI between 1999 and 2003), Paddy was all too aware of the pitfalls, and more appreciative of the highlights.
"The first highlight predates the first show," he says, reaching over to a nearby sideboard, "and it’s this card from Gay Byrne’s family – Kathleen, Crona and Suzy. This is so special. There are so many things I've done in my life that I will never forget, and that first Late Late Show night is right up there. In thinking of other highlights, I remember watching chat shows growing up and I would love it when unlikely guests would riff off each other and deliver magic.
"That happened when Daniel O'Donnell and Ricky Tomlinson were on the show last season. You wouldn’t have thought of putting those two together, but they had amazing chemistry. It was the same with Nicola Coughlan and Scary Spice; and the same when Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal were on the couch, and Muireann Bradley, the young guitarist from Donegal, came on to play. You could have heard a pin drop. That’s when The Late Late Show is at its best, during those small but magic moments."
But it wasn’t just the small moments that Paddy Kielty had to concern himself with during his first season. He was in the chair for numerous Late Late Show specials, with two springing instantly to mind.
"The first is the night we heard that Shane MacGowan died," he recalls. "We were able to bring in his friends and family and reflect on a man that the whole country was talking about and wanted to share their feelings and memories.
"I’ll also never forget the night that I interviewed the Stardust families just after that verdict. When I look back over my first run, I realise that The Late Late Show packs into one season what a lot of other shows don't pack into two or three."
Which brings us neatly to the most important show in the annual Late Late calendar. When Paddy talks about having to prove himself to audiences, the single most important thing for a host to prove is the ability to make a success out of the cultural institution that is The Late Late Toy Show. So how much sleep did he lose in the nights before he was required to don that famous festive jumper?
"Here’s the weird thing about that,’" he explains. "The Toy Show didn't really cause me as many sleepless nights as I think it may have caused those in the rest of the team. The run-up to the Toy Show for me felt a bit like playing in an All-Ireland final, where people just want to know, 'How will you play the first five minutes?’ and ‘What will you do you when you catch that ball?’ And of course, it’s also like an All-Ireland final because the main question people are asking is, ‘Do you have any tickets?’!"
But what about the show itself; a TV spectacular that was watched internationally in 147 countries and by 1.7 million people across Ireland that weekend?
"The thing about the Toy Show is that it should never be about me. In my head throughout that evening, I’ve got a six-year-old and an eight-year-old. The Toy Show for me growing up was always about fun toys and fun kids. And if you can put both of those things together, you can give them the space to fly. Afterwards, people were coming up to me and saying, ‘Oh, God, I bet you’re glad that’s over.’ What I think they were really saying was, ‘Jesus, I'm glad that’s over!’’
Despite the fact that, as comedian, TV host and presenter, Paddy has been in the entertainment business for more than a quarter of a century, he wasn’t quite prepared for the level of attention that comes with hosting the big Friday night show.
"Most people that you meet out and about will tell you the truth, which is great!" he laughs. "They’ll turn around and say, ‘You’re doing very well’, before adding in a whisper, ‘but I don't like the beard!’ When I'm doing the show, I get to spend a couple of nights a week up here in Dundrum. You’d be walking through Connolly station and the banter is good, but whenever I get back to Dundrum, I mean, nobody really cares here. It’s that thing, ‘Ah Jesus, it’s your man, Paddy.’ You know, I've lived here all my life, so you sort of feel insulated from it until the big moments happen, such as Toy Show Week or being Grand Marshall for the Dublin St Patrick’s Parade."
So, who gets more attention when they are out shopping, Paddy Kielty in Ireland, or his wife, fellow TV host, Cat Deely, in England?
"100% I would say Cat. Cat gets noticed more in England, but in Ireland, it’s illegal to be famous so everybody will come over and talk to me! Even when we’re out and about in Ireland, more people will go, ‘Oh, that's Cat’, but they will definitely talk to me!"
It has been a hectic few months for Paddy since he finished his first season as Late Late Show host. There was a family holiday in the south of France with Cat and their two young boys, Milo and James; there was also a meeting with Pope Francis in June; an honourary doctorate from Ulster University (in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to the arts") to be accepted in July; and a bout of shingles to overcome.
Meanwhile, Paddy has just returned from a local staycation. "I’ve just left the campervan back this morning," he explains.
"We were doing a staycation around County Down with our two fellas for the best part of a week. They are fans. For me, two kids under eight in a campervan is, shall we say, eventful!"
Eventful perhaps, but on paper, Paddy Kielty’s summer doesn’t sound like it offered too many opportunities to recharge the batteries before heading into a whole new season and a whole new roster of guests.
"That’s true!" he says , "but it’s funny; just getting back into a routine with the kids going off to school helps. And we’re also doing a house hunt at the minute. So, a change is as good as a rest! I'm not really someone who enjoys lying on a beach. I much prefer going to a couple of Gaelic matches with the boys here. The eldest fella is eight, and there was a Cúl Camp blitz down at the pitch. The pitch is named after me aul fella and when your son's playing GAA on a named after your aul fella, sometimes you have to take a wee bit of time and just smell the flowers and go, ‘Wow, this is a moment.’ Those are the things that recharge me. So, the batteries are well and truly charged at this stage. I’m biting at the bit to get going again!"
Batteries duly charged, there’s now the small matter of a new season of The Late Late Show for Paddy to prepare. The man from Dundrum realises there’s only one foolproof way to stay at the top of his game.
"During my first season as host, and going into the second series now, you can only be yourself," he concludes. "Audiences are smart. Audiences are savvy. They smell BS and that goes for the crews in RTÉ too, who have seen people come and go. If somebody doesn't like you, that's fine; there are lots of flavours of ice cream out there! But my idea was always to come out from the very start and say, ‘Look, this is who I am, and I hope you enjoy it.’ I can’t ask any more than that."
