Former Late Late presenter Pat Kenny has opened up about how he missed his children growing up while host of the RTE chat show.
The Newstalk star hosted the iconic Friday night programme from 1999 until 2009 after taking over from original presenter Gay Byrne. But Pat admitted that although he was at the helm of the country’s biggest show, his stardom came with a price.
He missed spending many weekends with his daughters Kristina and Nicole when they were kids. He said: “Obviously I wasn’t around at times when maybe I should have been around. I mean who gets up early for the swimming lesson on Saturday morning when I’ve done the Late Late Show the night before?
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“Kathy unfortunately most of the time. I used to surface and go down to the local pool with coffee for her, but she would be the one getting up early to bring them.”
But Dubliner Pat, 75, said he has no regrets and says his daughters enjoyed some of the perks of his job – but were “relieved” when he finished hosting the show. Kenny added: “But then there were perks. I mean the girls used to come in and meet some of the stars on the show. I’ve a picture of the girls with Niall Horan as a child. It’s a mixed blessing.
“But I didn’t regret a moment of my time there but equally when I moved on to something else, I was also quite relieved. I was getting my weekends back... all that sort of thing.”
But he hopes that Ryan will do something “he loves” after he steps away from the show on May 26. Broadcaster Pat added: “And after more than 30 shows of the year, it is pretty exhausting.
“Throughout his career you can do lots of different things and I hope Ryan finds something he really, really enjoys because The Late Late Show is all consuming. It’s a big beast. It’s not just about presenting items.”
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