The Gerry Ryan Show begged him "on bended knees" and "over whiskey" to stay with 2fm but at the same time Ryan was impressed that Tubridy was willing to compete with him directly. Tubridy has credited Ryan with being "one of the few gentlemen in [RTÉ]", saying he had been "very kind to me when I started out in RTÉ making tea and coffee and right all the way up to the very day I got "The Late Late Show" job". In 2004, Ryan was the subject of controversy when he cancelled an interview with the Taoiseach of the time, Bertie Ahern. Ahern had
Ryan Tubridy darkness. I'm a lot darker than people think – plenty of dark humour." Tubridy has been subject to commentary about his physical appearance. He describes himself as a "young fogey". Podge and Rodge, a televised puppet chat show, commented on his "stupid awkward eyes, he reminds me of the undead" and introduced him as "South Dublin on a stick" when he appeared on their TV show. In one incident Dermot Whelan, Dave Moore and Siobhan O'Connor of radio station 98FM rewrote the Steps song "Tragedy" to include lyrics which make personal references to Tubridy before playing it on their morning