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Ryan Tubridy Talks Through The 2020 Toy Show Theme - And How It Almost Didn’t Take Place At All

Ryan Tubridy Talks Through The 2020 Toy Show Theme - And How It Almost Didn’t Take Place At All

Tubridy speaks on how the Late Late Toy Show nearly didn'T happen - and what to expect from Ireland's biggest Christmas telly event.

Mike Wood

Mike Wood

The Late Late Toy Show 2020 airs on RTE tonight - a rare moment of normality in a year that, at times, has lacked any semblance of normal.

Yet, just like everything this year, it almost didn't happen at all. Speaking to the Irish Mirror, host Ryan Tubridy has opened up on how hard they had to fight to even have a Toy Show in 2020.

"What a peculiar and bizarre road to a Toy Show," said Tubridy. "This was the Toy Show that nearly didn't happen. And only for the grit and determination and diligence and an absolute need to keep the show on the road for the Irish children at home and abroad we wouldn't be here today talking. But we weren't having any of it, we just had to keep going.

Andres Poveda Photography)

"We had a different theme picked, and then March happened. We had a different plan ready to go and then lockdown 2 happened. We have met speed bump after speed bump and we keep climbing over them to get to Friday night. So this show is about determination and resilience and reflects in those words what Irish people have been about all year."

"In our world the Toy Show is everything. And to have an existential threat on the most joyful programme of the year of all the years 2020 was desperate. And we had a fight in our hands trying to get it right, and to comply with the intense rulings and everything, but we got there."

That theme is set to showcase the works of Roald Dahl, with Tubridy donning the costume of Fantastic Mr Fox for the much-anticipated opening number.

"I wish it was my idea, but I think the people behind the scenes said let's make him happy this year and bring him to the happy place and for me, the happy place is books and Roald Dahl and childhood. Pretty much a triple whammy. And that brings us to the Toy Show 2020."

This year will, obviously, be a little different. There will be no studio audience - but that doesn't mean that they will be giving any less. As the show that usually tops the year-end rankings for viewers in Ireland, there is potentially more people that ever watching as we're all sat at home.


"From what I am getting from people this year, they don't want the toy show this year, they need it," said Tubridy. "And that is just a baffling prospect because we have great expectations on us all and my dream is to make this beautiful."

The Late Late Toy Show airs on RTE One tomorrow at 9.35pm.

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Topics: Ireland

Mike Meehall Wood is a freelance journalist and translator. He writes for LADbible, VICE and countless sports publications, focusing on rugby league, football and boxing. He is a graduate of Leeds University and maintains a fizzy pop obsession. Contact Mike at [email protected]