{"id":423153,"date":"2026-04-29T09:09:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T09:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/423153\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T09:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T09:09:07","slug":"uncertainty-over-renewal-of-patrick-kieltys-contract-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/423153\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncertainty over renewal of Patrick Kielty\u2019s contract \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

RT\u00c9<\/a> and The Late Late Show<\/a> host Patrick Kielty<\/a> have yet to confirm a new contract for the presenter just days before the final episode of the season airs.<\/p>\n

Kielty\u2019s initial three-year contract with RT\u00c9, which began in 2023, expires after Friday\u2019s edition of the show. RT\u00c9 is understood to have been in talks with the presenter and expectations at Montrose are that he will continue in the role, but no conclusion has been reached.<\/p>\n

The broadcaster declined to comment on its relationship with Kielty on Tuesday, though its most senior executives have previously indicated they want him to stay on.<\/p>\n

\u201cRT\u00c9 does not comment on individual contracts … We look forward to the programme returning for its 65th year in the autumn,\u201d RT\u00c9 said in a statement.<\/p>\n

A representative of Kielty was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

Discussions about his future on the show have coincided with other pay matters at RT\u00c9, with the broadcaster awaiting a final sign-off from the Government for a \u20ac20,000 pay increase in the basic salary of its director general, Kevin Bakhurst<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The shrinking of RT\u00c9: \u2018It feels like an increasingly neutered organisation\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

He took up his post in July 2023 and said no presenter at RT\u00c9 would earn more than his own basic salary, which is on track to increase from \u20ac250,000 to \u20ac270,000, not including a car allowance or pension contributions. Under new Government pay structures, a rise of up to \u20ac50,000 had been possible.<\/p>\n

Kielty\u2019s current salary for presenting The Late Late Show adheres to this pay cap, with the presenter paid \u20ac250,000 a year under his now-expiring contract for 30 episodes per season. If the director general\u2019s pay rise is approved, Kielty and other high-profile RT\u00c9 presenters will be in a position to seek the same increase.<\/p>\n

From Dundrum, Co Down, Kielty was announced as the fourth permanent host of the show in May 2023, one week before his predecessor, Ryan Tubridy, hosted his final edition.<\/p>\n

A month later, RT\u00c9 admitted it had not fully declared Tubridy\u2019s pay, with the revelation triggering the emergence of a series of corporate governance scandals at the organisation.<\/p>\n

Amid political pressure on RT\u00c9 to be fully transparent about presenter pay, Kielty released a statement saying he would be paid \u20ac250,000 a season \u2013 a lower figure than many had expected before RT\u00c9 was plunged into crisis. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Kevin Bakhurst: \u2018For many years the level of presenter pay at RT\u00c9 got a little bit out of control\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

This sum excluded a one-off fee of \u20ac20,000 to cover pre-production meetings and rehearsals in 2023. He also waived a right under this contract to submit flight and accommodation expenses and asked RT\u00c9 to carbon offset his flights.<\/p>\n

Kielty, who has commuted to RT\u00c9\u2019s studios each week from his home in London, hosted his first live show in September 2023.<\/p>\n

In February, Bakhurst indicated that RT\u00c9 management would have \u201cdiscussions over the coming months\u201d with Kielty about his Late Late future. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made it really clear to Patrick that we all think he\u2019s doing a great job, and we would like to continue that,\u201d he said then.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RT\u00c9 and The Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty have yet to confirm a new contract for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60,47232,23061,9034,6085],"class_list":["post-423153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kevin-bakhurst","tag-late-late-show","tag-patrick-kielty","tag-rte"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}