Just months after her landmark decision to leave RTÉ for Newstalk, Claire Byrne will be returning to the studios as she is set to sit down with Patrick Kielty on tonight’s Late Late Show.
While Claire is known for her unshakeable interview style and heated discussions with major figures, she also lives a busy life as a wife and a mother of three young children.
The 50-year-old veteran broadcaster prefers to keep her family life private, opting not to share photos of her children’s faces online and rarely speaking about her marriage to Gerry Scollan.
Claire rarely speaks about her marriage to Gerry Scollan. Pic: Brian McEvoy
It is not known how Claire and Gerry initially met, but the pair were first linked when she brought him along as her date to the VIP Style awards in 2012, where she had been nominated as the Most Stylish Woman.
Speaking on the night, Claire said: ‘Poor Gerry, he has to run the gauntlet tonight, I feel a bit sorry for him.’ A source close to the broadcaster later told the Irish Daily Mail that she had ‘agonised’ over the decision to go public at the event.
Claire and Gerry would get engaged just a year after their first appearance. Claire would tell the Irish Independent: ‘I didn’t know straight away, but after the first date I did know … We had so many similarities in our background – size of family, rural upbringing, the values we were raised with.’
They tied the knot in a low-key ceremony at a Dublin Registry office in 2016, having their reception at Angler’s Rest in Chapelizod. Claire remained coy about details of the wedding, keeping the date a secret from everyone but a handful of relatives and friends.
They tied the knot in a low-key ceremony at a Dublin Registry office in 2016 Pic: Conor McCabe
The pair now live a busy life between Claire’s latest radio show starting in February, Gerry’s career at Microsoft and raising their three young children, Patrick, Jane and Emma.
The family also has a golden Labrador named Cooper. The family’s dog recently went viral after Claire shared a clip of him being hoovered.
Speaking on the Under the Grill podcast, Claire stressed that despite her monumental success as a radio presenter, she is really just a ‘mum’.
She also revealed that her children don’t really care about her career. ‘They care that you are at home when they need you. And that they get fed! They care that you are at home when they need you,’ she told the podcast.
Claire stressed that despite her monumental success as a radio presenter, she is really just a ‘mum’. Pic: Andres Poveda
Claire also revealed that her decision to move back to Newstalk from RTÉ was made so she could spend more time with her children. ‘My children accept that I am gone every morning before they wake up. But my youngest never accepted that I had to walk back out the door on a Monday.
‘She cried every time I left the house on a Monday. Every time. It broke my heart. She is five years old, and she is starting school next week,’ she told the Sunday Independent.
Claire will be making her return to the RTÉ studios tonight as she joins Patrick Kielty on the Late Late Show. She will be joining a heavy female lineup, with Anne with an E actress Amybeth McNulty and The O.C star Mischa Barton also set for tonight’s show.