Mile-high hijinks and 2023 in song: Four talking points from a festive ...
Patrick Kielty’s first guest of the night was Love Island star-turned-social media presenter Maura Higgins, who spoke about being home in Longford for Christmas, spending the summer in Fiji filming for Love Island, and her new relationship.
Kielty pointed out that the public fell for Higgins’ no-nonsense attitude and honesty during her original stint on the reality show as a contestant and he described her as the Roy Keane of Love Island for some of her comments on Friday night.
“Someone that you were coupled up with… you went back, you were a host — they were still a contestant,” he said, asking how she felt in that situation.
“For me, it was fine because I was just doing my job. It wasn’t awkward for me,” she said, prompting Kielty to describe her response as “very Roy Keane”.
Higgins also confirmed she is in a “very happy relationship”, ten months after her last appearance on the Late Late Show’s Valentine’s Day special when she said she “couldn't be more single if I tried”.
Pat Shortt’s mile-high hijinks
Comedian Pat Shortt joined Higgins and Kielty and spoke about his role on Banshees of Inisheerin, his Christmas memories and life on tour.
He revealed some “nightmares” he experienced on trips abroad in the past, including an entertaining misunderstanding mid-flight with a too-polite fellow passenger who didn’t want to wake him when she needed to use the toilet.
“I went to sleep and I was on the aisle seat. I swear to God, I woke up half an hour later with the auld one up on top of me and she’s riding me like Charlie Swan,” he said, referencing the former National Hunt jockey.
“She was so polite she didn’t want to wake me so she decided to step over me and her skirt got caught on top of me. I woke up and her husband was trying to pull her off of me.” He also shared the time he took a wrong turn while half asleep in a hotel room and instead of walking into the bathroom he walked out to the corridor and got locked out in his birthday suit.
Brushes with fame
Host Jennifer Zamparelli and judge Arthur Gourounlian joined Kielty to talk about the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars, their friendship, and they shared some of the famous faces they have met.
Gourounlian, a professional dancer, worked with Beyonce and Girls Aloud, and photos were shown of the dancer with both acts. He started sharing anecdotes when Zamparelli chimed in: “I met Daniel O’Donnell once.
“My friend got married in Croatia and he was passing through and I ran up to him and asked him for a photograph. I can’t find [the photo] right now but it definitely happened.”
Michael Fry reels in the year
Actor and comedian Michael Fry, popular for his online sketches, debuted his musical wrap of 2023 on the Late Late Show to the tune of Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’.
He condensed all the headlines and cultural moments from the past 12 months, including the Titan submersible implosion, the ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon in cinemas, the loss of great Irish artists and quite a few comments about Ryan Tubridy, RTÉ, and flip flops, into a snappy two-minute song.
Hear the full song here:
