'Kindred spirits' - New Virgin Radio presenter Ryan Tubridy talks to Chris Evans about their love of radio

Virgin Radio

16 Nov 2023, 11:36

Newly-announced Virgin Radio presenter Ryan Tubridy chatted to Chris Evans about joining the team at the top of the tower!

Broadcasting from The News Building in London, the legendary Irish presenter will helm the mid-morning show on Virgin Radio UK from 10am to 1pm, Monday to Friday from January. He joins a stellar weekday schedule that includes Jayne Middlemiss in the afternoons, Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson at drivetime and, of course, will follow the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch.

When Ryan joined Chris this morning (16th November) for the exciting announcement, he chatted about their shared love of the medium. “When I met you first, I knew the moment I shook your hand that we were, if I may say so, kindred spirits on the basis that you love radio. You love being on the radio, and I love it, too,” he said to Chris.

The broadcaster joked: “And it's not just ego, and it's not just showing off, although they are two huge components, a vast, vast need to be loved and tickled and appreciated!"

Chris jokingly interjected: "Liked! I'd take liked! Just not hated, actually!"

Ryan continued: "It's not that we're raging, raging chasms of ego and narcissism! Not that at all! Ask your colleagues. Endless, endless, endless hours of psychiatrists' time wouldn't answer the questions that we have to ask. So, apart from all of that, we just love being on the radio!” 

Ryan’s successful radio career has spanned more than 20 years to date, and he is perhaps best known for hosting The Late Late Show - Ireland's most popular, highest rating TV programme - for 14 years. He told Chris: “We love talking and informing and enlightening and entertaining. I knew that when I met you. I was doing the Late Late Show at home in Ireland at the time, when you came in. And there was somebody asking earlier, ‘When was the first time you met Chris Evans?’ And I said, ‘Well, do you remember Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz when the tornado was coming?’, ‘Yeah’. I said, ‘Well, that's what it was. He came into the building and desks were flying’, because you were just this dynamo.”

During his chat with Chris, Ryan also spoke about another broadcasting great. “Can I mention Terry Wogan this morning?” he asked. “He's really in my head today.” 

He told Chris: “About 10 years ago, I kind of did a bit of work in the BBC. You were on holidays, and I filled in for yourself and, and some others. Terry said ‘Come for lunch’. I filled in for him. And we had this crazy lunch.”

Speaking about the “lovely tone that he had” Ryan explained that it was “also a tone not only in his voice, as a person. He was a really lovely human-being." 

He continued: “We went to some Spanish tapas place. And he was like the sorcerer with the apprentice. And he kind of opened the bag and said, ‘Here's a few things you should know if ever you come to London’, I didn't come to London at that point. My daughters were very young. It wasn't the right time. 

“He just said, ‘If you need a shoulder to lean on, or anyone to talk to, I'm there for you.’”

Ryan added: “I'm thinking a lot about him today, because he was a very good person.” 

Read all about how “desperately excited” Virgin Radio’s newest presenter is to “start a new job in a new city in a wonderful station in a few weeks time” here. 

Tune into Ryan Tubridy’s brand new mid-morning show, 10am to 1pm, on Virgin Radio UK from January 2024.

For more great interviews listen to  The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.