BACKSTAGE PASS: TARA BRADYwent behind the scenes with Ryan Tubridy to talk about Jumpergate, dolls, and the dressingroom he rarely uses
THEY'RE CALLING IT Jumpergate. In the frantic countdown to The Late Late Toy Show, Ryan Tubridy has voiced the unspeakable. "I think I've just started a firestorm on Twitter," says the now-chastened broadcaster.
“All I said was that I might be wearing a shirt this year. People went nuts. I don’t think I’ve ever had this many responses to anything I’ve started on Twitter.”
As Tubridy is keen to stress, he did, in fact, turn up in a plain old V-neck last year; indeed, his predecessor Pat Kenny also favoured the muted end of the knits spectrum. For the collective psyche, however, the Toy Show jumper is a hallowed seasonal garment. Mittle-Europe has its markets and mulled wine, but in this part of the world, it wasn’t really Christmas until Gay Byrne appeared in eccentric woollens and waved on the Billie Barry kids.
"When you say the words Late Late Toy Showto anyone, they still picture Gay in a snowman jumper," says the current host. "The days of the garish, horror-show jumper are long gone. But that's the image. That's the memory. The jumper is a national institution. I've learned that the hard way. You can't mess with the jumper."
The goofy seasonal jumper is a good fit; like any garment emblazoned with frolicsome reindeer and stenciled snowflakes, The Late Late Toy Showis both quaint custom and big business.
Last year interested parties paid €17,000 for each 30-second advertising slot; equivalent coverage during the 2010 Uefa Champions’ League Final was, comparatively speaking, a snip at €9,750.
If Tubridy is fazed by the prospect of performing before Irish television’s biggest audience – in 2009, 1.38 million viewers tuned in – he’s certainly keeping it well hidden. “And then we have this doll that giggles and bends at the leg when you tickle her,” he says, excitedly. “I’m not a doll person. I generally think they’re creepy. But I’m really taken with this one.”
The father of 11-year-old Ella and six-year-old Julia has not, to date, found cause to purchase a Scalextric, so he’s particularly psyched about the things that make vroom and nee-naw noises.
“Right now, the remote-control helicopter is my favourite thing,” he says. “I can’t stop looking at it. That’s going to be my memento, I think.”
Gaybo pretended to be cross, Pat Kenny spoke in fatherly tones, but Ryan Tubridy, a chap who has always been defined by his enthusiasm – for JFK, for Big Band music, for Barack Obama, for Monty Python – may be the first big kid to front The Late Late Toy Show.
"All traces of irony just fly out the window for me," he says. "There's no refuge. This is the job I've always wanted. More than presenting the Late Late Show, I wanted to present the Late Late Toy Show. This is the dream gig. It's an awful lot of work for the people behind the scenes. But for me, it's the greatest kick imaginable."
Unsurprisingly, Tubridy’s boundless reserves of energy have prevented him from forming a lasting relationship with his RTÉ dressing room. Just before show time, he stops in for a Coke “preferably in the old glass bottle, for the sugar hit”, and puts Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Darin or The Beatles on his i-Dock as mood dictates.
“I don’t spend a huge amount of time in the dressing room,” he says. “It’s the same one I’ve had for years. It’s quite new and it’s a handy, functional bolt-hole for having an ice-cold beer when it’s all over.”
“Most of the time though, I’m walking around, I’m out chatting to the band or off being restless somewhere else. I need to be doing something. That’s me.”
The Late Late Toy Showwill be repeated on RTÉ1 tomorrow afternoon at 2.45pm
