Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy has broken his silence after announcing he was stepping down as host of the show – saying he will "miss" seeing everybody on an annual basis.
The RTE star revealed Friday night’s Late Late Show Country Music Special line-up, which will see Daniel O’Donnell, Nathan Carter, Margo and a host of country music stars on the show.
It will be Ryan’s last country music special after he steps down as host on May 26 – and the Radio 1 presenter said he will miss “seeing everybody on an annual basis”.
READ MORE:Ryan Tubridy taking break from RTE radio show to work on 'bits and pieces'
He said: “This Late Late Country Music special will be my final one at the helm. It all started out really when I was not long in the job as the presenter of The Late Late Show and when driving around the country, I kept seeing posters of gigs of different country stars and it was a world that I wasn’t familiar with. And so it began.
"I quickly learned that it was a world that brought people together and while I will miss seeing everybody on an annual basis, I have made a lot of friends in the country music world, and that has been my privilege," Tubridy added.
The Late Late Show Country Music special is back with a bang for the first time since 2019, with some of the industry's biggest names set to grace the stage on the night.
Daniel O'Donnell, Margo, Nathan Carter, Cliona Hagan, Philomena Begley, Derek Ryan, Claudia Buckley, TR Dallas, Trudi Lalor, Johnny Brady, Clodagh Lawlor, Niamh Lynne, Olivia Douglas, Chantelle Padden and Toy Show’s Cailin Joe lead the stellar line up.
A country music legend will walk the line and be inducted into the Irish Country Music Hall of Fame, an accolade previously awarded to Daniel O'Donnell and Philomena Begley.
Daniel, Cliona, Philomena, and Nathan have worked 9-5 to unveil an exciting new project exclusively on Friday night’s show and they will pay tribute to the man who started it all, Ireland’s king of country, Big Tom.
Described by Ryan as "a huge country star of the future, if not now" the show will welcome back Toy Show’s Tyrone Teen Caillin Joe who will perform a Glen Campbell classic.
Leading female artists in the industry will put their own spin on current chart-topper, Miley Cyrus’ Flowers.
And the star-studded line-up will perform the songs that changed their lives including Irish originals and hits from Dolly Parton, The Bellamy Brothers and Garth Brooks.
The Late Late Show Country Music Special airs on RTÉ One on Friday, March 31st at 9:35pm.
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