Ryan Tubridy shares candid insight as he recalls RTÉ scandal
Ryan Tubridy has spoken out about his time in the spotlight over the controversial RTÉ payments scandal.
In June of this year, Ryan’s radio show was put on hold after it was declared that the public records of his earnings were understated by €345,000 for the last six years.
In the following month, the former Late Late Show presenter and his agent Noel Kelly attended the Oireachtas Media Committee and the Public Accounts Committee, as they were quizzed about the payments by RTÉ.
Now, as he prepares to start his new career away from RTÉ, Ryan has chosen to open up about the scandal.
Speaking on Doireann Garrihy’s podcast The Laughs of Your Life, the 50-year-old recalled the day that he endured seven hours of questioning, describing it as “Christmas morning flipped.”
The former RTÉ radio host then went on to detail how his mother was suffering from health difficulties at the time.
“During ‘The Thing’ she was great, she was in the hospital for a lot of it and that was one of the things I found quite difficult was when I was being thrashed by certain quarters – and the odd person – and I thought, ‘You know, I don’t mind you thrashing me but have you any idea the pain you might be causing people around me?'” he explained.
The father-of-two also noted how the recent deaths of two Irish students on holiday in Greece – Andrew O’Donnell and Max Wall – encouraged him to face the ordeal.
“I thought to myself in the back of that car, you know, having spent a few hours feeling a little sorry for myself and I thought: ‘My life is interrupted and those families’ lives are destroyed. Now, you cop yourself on, you’re going in to tell the story, you’re going in to tell them everything you know and then you’re going home. Think about that,’” he recalled.
Last month, it was confirmed that Ryan will be moving to London to begin his new role on Virgin Radio. He will be hosting a weekday morning show, beginning on January 4.
