Next Host Of The Late Late Show Odds: Claire Byrne Favourite To Replace Tubridy

Speculation continues to mount, but Claire Byrne remains the clear favourite with betting sites to be the next host of RTE’s The Late Late Show.

That comes after Ryan Tubridy announced he is set to vacate his Late Late hot seat after 13 years at the end of the current season of the show.

Following Tubridy’s announcement last month that he was to step aside from a programme that he has anchored since September 2009, attention quickly switched to who the most likely candidate was to assume the hot seat.

Only A Select Group Have Hosted Programme In The Past

While there have remarkably only been three permanent hosts of the talk show over its 61-year stint on Irish televisions, a number of others have been guest presenters down through the years. 

Although he was technically a replacement for original helmer Gay Byrne after he had initially decided to join the newly-formed BBC2 in 1964, Frank Hall’s time in the Late Late chair only lasted for three months with Byrne subsequently returning to the helm.

The late Gerry Ryan guest hosted the programme for a single night in October 2008 when Pat Kenny (Byrne’s successor) was unavailable due to the sudden passing of his mother. 

Miriam O’Callaghan made history in 2020 when she became the first solo female presenter of the Late Late as she stood in for two episodes after Tubridy tested positive for Covid-19.

Marian Finucane had previously presented part of an episode back on November 15, 1980 when Byrne felt a female anchor was needed for a show that focused on feminism.

Though she was previously touted as a long-term replacement for Tubridy, O’Callaghan ruled herself out of the running in the wake of the Dubliner’s decision to stand down from the role at the end of the current season. 

This hasn’t made it less likely that a woman will be in the hot seat for the start of the autumn television schedule however, with the current top-six contenders for the gig amongst bookmakers all being females.

Byrne The Leading Late Late Candidate

Laois native Claire Byrne (no relation of the aforementioned Gay) was installed as the favourite for the role at the end of last month and she is still out in front with odds of 2/5 with new betting sites on her being the anointed successor to Tubridy.

Following previous stints at TV3 (now rebranded as Virgin Media Television) and Newstalk, she joined RTÉ in 2010. 

She has worked steadily across television and radio in that time, including serving as a Prime Time co-presenter alongside O’Callaghan and Kenny.

She can currently be found on the airwaves on Today with Claire Byrne and despite ending a seven-year spell as host of Claire Byrne Live in 2022, she recently made a return to TV screens with a new quiz show entitled ‘Ireland’s Smartest’.

The first episode aired last Sunday has received mixed reviews, but with a further nine weeks to go in the show’s run, the national broadcaster will ensure that Byrne has gained as much exposure as possible to ascertain if she is the best fit for The Late Late Show.

McInerney And Thomas Also Featuring Strongly

The biggest challenger to Byrne at the moment is someone whose CV is strikingly similar to that of the Midlander. 

Hailing from Barna in Galway, Sarah McInerney has - like Byrne - also worked for both Newstalk and TV3 in the past. 

She is also a current co-presenter of Prime Time and has fitted a strong body of work into her relatively short time at RTÉ.

After joining the broadcaster in May 2020, she spent a few months as host of Today With Sarah McInerney on the radio as an interim replacement for previous presenter Sean O’Rourke. 

Ironically, it was Claire Byrne who eventually took over this slot, but McInerney had impressed enough to be handed a presenting gig on evening commute programme Drivetime.

BoyleSports currently rate her as a 7/2 possibility to be the next Late Late Show host and despite recent speculation that Byrne will almost certainly be offered the role, McInerney is worth considering as an alternative.

From Byrne’s neighbouring county of Carlow, Kathryn Thomas is also featuring heavily in the betting with odds of 9/2 making her the third favourite for Late Late duties. Even though she is only 44 years of age, she has been on TV screens since the 1990s.

Back then, she shared presenting honours with Dublin GAA star Jason Sherlock on Rapid - a youth sports show - before further establishing herself on long-running offerings such as No Frontiers, Operation Transformation and The Voice of Ireland. 

The Late Late Show would represent a major step up for Thomas, but she has shown in the past that she is capable of tackling a variety of different topics - whether they be sensitive or light-hearted in nature.

Zamparelli And Garrihy Also In The Reckoning

Co-hosts of Dancing With The Stars, Jennifer Zamparelli and Doireann Garrihy are both listed at 12/1 with specials betting sites to be the next presenters of the Late Late.

Having first come to prominence as a contestant on The Apprentice in the UK, Zamparelli (née Maguire) subsequently embarked on a career in broadcasting across both Irish television and radio.

She is also the star of Irish sitcom Bridget & Eamon alongside Bernard O’Shea, where they portray characters that first featured on the satirical sketch TV show Republic of Telly - a programme that Zamparelli also had a writing credit on. 

Should the Late Late Show wish to transition into being a more entertainment-based product, then Zamparelli could be a suitable choice.

The same could be said for Garrihy, whose eldest sister Aoibhín has acted in several RTE productions such as Fair City and Love/Hate. 

She made her name as a gifted comedy impressionist - something she parlayed into the web series The Doireann Project - and with many talk show presenters across the globe having similar comedic backgrounds, she could prove to be a strong left field option.

Scanlon A Possible Option As Tiernan Drops Down The Betting

Slightly further down the pecking order at 16/1 with betting apps is Meath woman Angela Scanlon. 

While she was previously available at the more favourable odds of 6/1, her experience of working on some BBC productions like The One Show and Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch ensures the 39-year-old will always feature somewhere in the reckoning for a show of this magnitude.

Whilst it would seem foolish to completely rule him out of the equation, Tommy Tiernan has dropped from 14/1 to 25/1 in the betting for the next Late Late presenter - the same odds that are available for fellow RTE duo Katie Hannon and Baz Ashmawy.

Former Saturday night talk show host Brendan O'Connor also appears to be out of the running with odds of just 66/1 and Lottie Ryan (daughter of former guest presenter Gerry Ryan) is an even more unlikely proposition at 100/1.