RTÉ BROADCASTER Miriam O'Callaghan said she had always been "a bit ambivalent" towards the opportunity to present the Late Late Showand she was "strangely relieved" that she had not been offered the job.
O’Callaghan yesterday wished Ryan Tubridy “the very best” in his new role as presenter of the show and she said he would “do brilliantly” with it. O’Callaghan was speaking to reporters at the launch of the 40th anniversary of the Simon Community.
RTÉ said yesterday that no decision had been taken on the salary being offered to Tubridy.
Tubridy is one of the best paid presenters at RTÉ. He earned around €350,000 a year for 2006, the last year for which figures are available, but can now anticipate a significant rise in his pay packet.
Traditionally, the Late Late Showhost has been the highest paid presenter in RTÉ. Pat Kenny earns about €849,000 a year for both his radio and TV work.
An RTÉ spokesman said Tubridy was a contractor at the station and any pay issues would need to be addressed through a new contract.
Ms O'Callaghan said she had been told that had she accepted the Late Late Showjob she would have had to give up presenting current affairs programme Prime Time.
She said: " Prime Timeis in my DNA, I have always been there. The other two guys could still do their radio, I couldn't do Prime Time. For me that was very difficult, I was strangely relieved in a weird way," she said.
The prospect of walking away from Prime Timeleft her "very very worried and made me unhappy," she added.
O’Callaghan has again been offered her summer chat show but said it will take a lot of work to get together a production team and guests at this stage.
“I am very lucky that I get to do current affairs and I still get to do light entertainment and in a way that is very fortunate. And I am very conscious that so many people are losing their jobs and here is me talking about other jobs, I feel embarrassed actually,” she said.
Larry Masterson, executive producer of the Late Late Show, said Tubridy would bring changes by his very presence on the show but it would essentially remain the same.
"He has got the energy, he is young and I think he will continue with the tradition of the Late Late," said Masterson who did not yet know if he would be kept on at the programme.
He described Tubridy as a “fantastic addition” who was “entertaining” with the “ability to be serious as well”.