I was due to be Late Late quest

Film promo slot lined up before Kielty landed job as new host

- SANDRA MALLON

PATRICK Kielty always expected to be on The Late Late Show this weekend – but as a guest, not the new host.

The 52-year-old made his debut in the hot seat last Friday and is also out promoting his new movie Ballywalter, which is out tomorrow in cinemas.

Speaking to Chris Evans on his Virgin Media radio show in the UK, Paddy said: “I shot this little movie a few years ago, which nobody believed I did by the way.

“I thought I was going to be a guest on The Late Late Show next week to talk about the movie.

“Cut to a phone call in May, ‘Would you like to host the Late Late Show’.”

Almost one million viewers tuned in to watch Kielty make his Late Late debut, including 158,000 people who streamed the show on the RTE Player.

Presenter Evans is a big fan and said he’d love it if the iconic chat show aired in the UK.

He added: “I want the show now, I always did anyway, but I want the show now to be in the UK and simulcast live because I want to watch that show on a Friday night with you hosting it. Any chance of that happening?”

But Patrick replied: “I don’t know. I think it is something that whenever Gay [Byrne] hosted the show there was a Channel 4 deal.

“One of the amazing things about Friday night was that we had a tonne of people watching on the RTE Player around the world.