The reviews are in for Patrick Kielty’s final Late Late Show of the series with the Down native receiving a standing ovation as he emotionally admitted fronting the show had been ‘the joy of a lifetime.’
Patrick took over as the fourth presenter of the long-running chat show last year and was joined by Irish dancer Michael Flatley, stars from the Young Offenders and Oscar-nominated Belfast actor Ciaran Hinds alongside his The Dry co-stars on Friday night.
Chasing Abbey returned to the Late Late Show studio for the second time this series playing their new song, Lannigan’s Ball.
“Thank you for tuning in and being so kind”
— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) May 10, 2024
Well said, Patrick.#LateLate pic.twitter.com/AfkdYT17Rw
The show also headed live to Malmö where Patrick got the low-down on all things Eurovision from Marty Whelan ahead of Bambie Thug’s bid for glory on Saturday night.
Michael Flatley kicked things off on Friday night, starting off by handing Patrick a bottle of his new whiskey, Flatley Whiskey.
Enjoyable so far, good music and plenty of laughs.#latelate
— Betty Murray (@BusterBear5) May 10, 2024
During the interview, Michael spoke on everything from the start of the iconic Riverdance, his new whiskey as well as his shock cancer diagnosis which was revealed last year.
Perhaps Michael’s appearance on the show was too close to Mario Rosenstock who was a guest on last week’s show and impersonated the dancer as many viewers said they couldn’t stop thinking of Rosenstock while Michael chatted to Patrick.
Matt Molloy joined Patrick and Michael with Patrick noting Michael was a massive fan of The Chieftains side.
Hillary Rose, Shane Murphy, Chris Walley and Alex Murphy were the second cohort of guests chatting all about the return of The Young Offenders, which returned on Friday on BBC One.
Shane, who plays Billy Murphy, branded joining the show as ‘the best decision’ he ever made, laughing as he noted the love he receives stretches from five-year-olds who shouldn’t be watching the show to the 95-year-olds who should ‘know better.’/
From one Irish TV show to another, Ciaran Hinds, Siobhan Cullen and Roisin Gallagher were onto speak about the new series of the RTÉ drama.
Veteran actor Ciaran Hinds paid tribute to his female co-stars for their hard work and graft.
Emotional Patrick.👏👏👏 10 outa 10 for that season #latelate
— Lars Ulpoor (@nob_what) May 10, 2024
‘This is a new generation that I can see [and] I’m around and I can see how brilliant they are, how gifted they are,’ Ciaran praised, ‘We are fortunate in this country to have people with such talent.’
The conclusion of the show saw a quick trip to Malmö where Marty Whelan pipped three avid Eurovision fans against each other in hopes that one would win two tickets to the sold out grand final before Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan sang their song, 1994 Irish entry, Rock n Roll Kids in the studio.
Getting emotional as he signed up the final show of the season, Patrick said: ‘When I first walked out here last September, I siad that it was the honour of a lifetime to do this job. After nine months of sitting in this chair I know now it is the joy of a lifetime and that is because everyone who works on this show and mostly because of all of you watching at home.
‘The way you have welcomed me into your Friday nights has absolutely meant the world to me, so thank you for tuning in and being so kind. Have a great summer, I will see you in the autumn.
The reviews were pouring in on social media with many noting they were sad to bid Patrick Kielty farewell for the summer break.
One said: ‘The one thing that stands out with Patrick Kielty on the #latelate is, he’s great at interviewing people.’
Another wrote: ‘I’m gonna miss Patrick Kielty more than I ever did Ryan Tubridy #latelate #latelateshow.’
A third shared: ‘Brilliant job @PatricKielty Bringing back all thats good about the #latelate
#latelate what a lovely summer send-off from #patrickkielty #LateLateShow
— Marie C (@maireaur) May 10, 2024
Thank you @PatricKielty for a great season of @RTELateLateShow. Delighted that the devilment and sincere emotion continued since your first show. See you again next September. #LateLateShow #latelate https://t.co/megEap5WIW
— Hazel | Travel Writer (@joyofhazel) May 10, 2024
As this is the last #latelate of the season, I'm just gonna say it here: Kielty is an alright presenter, but his constant cracking and laughing of jokes really got irritating…. But you can tell he's had an absolute blast presenting the show anyways.
— Liam Holton (@LiamHoltonDrums) May 10, 2024
