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
The Late Late Toy Show number. The show started with The Bare Necessities song which included singing and dancing from Ryan Tubridy in a Baloo costume. During the show, Dermot Bannon from Room to Improve surprised an architectural fan, rugby player Jamie Heaslip presented a young fan with his signed Ireland jersey that he wore during the Autumn International win over Australia, and world number 2 ranked golfer Rory McIlroy presented a young golfing fan with signed versions of Rory McIlroy PGA Tour and tickets to the 2017 Irish Open. The Toy Show was RTÉ's most watched programme of 2016, with 1.4 million viewers watching