Patrick Kielty says the unpredictability of The Late Late Toy Show is what makes it magical as he gears up for his second year hosting.
Patrick Kielty is in typically good-humoured spirits ahead of the biggest TV night of the year.
The Co Down presenter's Toy Show debut last year was warmly received and established his position as the new Toy Man in town.
It's undoubtedly the Christmas TV event of the year, if not the TV event of the year, and a famously tricky one to keep under control, with scores of spirited young toy testers, costume changes and expertly choreographed musical numbers.
When asked if he's feeling more confident with one Toy Show under his belt, Kielty said with a laugh: "I think the difference is that maybe people who are watching might have a wee bit more confidence in me!
"And I’d say, 'Yeah, it looks good'. And they’d ask 'How are you feeling?' Suddenly I worked it out, which was, this isn't about how I'm feeling, this is about you thinking I might mess this up!
"So what was nice about it this time around is I know what I signed up for. Last year, I really didn’t."
Kielty became the fourth permanent host of the most famous show in Irish television history last year, following in the footsteps of Gay Byrne, Pat Kenny and Ryan Tubridy. Having kicked off a second season of hosting The Late Late Show this September, he has been widely praised for his presenting skills and ability to handle heavy and light interviews with his trademark affable and empathetic approach.
One major difference he's noticed about taking the reigns of the Toy Show this year is his profile among younger viewers.
"I used to be able to be invisible to the kids because they didn't know who I was, they hadn’t a clue," he said.
"So you’re going, 'OK, this is different this year'. But all that stuff is lovely."
The 53-year-old comedian, presenter and actor has many years of live broadcasting on his showreel, with the UTV youth show SUS and comedy entertainment show PK Tonight among the first he hosted in the early 90s. His CV encompasses a wide range of programming including Patrick Kielty Almost Live, Last Chance Lottery, Fame Academy, Love Island and Stand Up for the Week.
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Even with this breadth of experience, the frenetic energy of the Toy Show makes it a unique challenge to preside over.
"The lesson we learned is: It doesn't matter how much you plan, it will be completely different to what you think it is!" he said of his approach to his second Toy Show outing.
"It's a bit like when you have a birthday party for your kid and you sort out all the bits and pieces that you want, and then you invite 20 kids.
"And what you were stressed about and what you thought you needed to worry about - that's not what you need to worry about at all. Whenever you've planned - that's not happening.
"The kids will have an amazing time. So I think, you can plan as much as you want, and don't get me wrong, there’s a lot of planning going into it, but it's just that wee thing that happens where it can go any way, it can go anywhere. You just have to be prepared."
He is stubbornly tight-lipped when it comes to the theme for this year's show after last year's Elf-themed extravaganza which saw him don the iconic green and yellow costume made famous by Will Ferrell in the classic 2003 comedy. All he'll say is that they're "putting the Lego bits together" on the two-hour show having started working on it in August.
"There's an office in there on our floor where The Late Late Show is and the door is shut," Kielty shared of the top-secret preparations.
"I thought it was a joke at the start. I remember when I turned up last year, oh yeah the door is shut, it's all secret, blah blah blah. But the door is shut. And I asked, 'Can I go in?' And they said, 'If you knock you'll be let in.'"
Others have tried unsuccessfully to glean information out of him.
"I was in my brother's house there last week and they tried to get it out of me, out of nowhere!" he laughed.
"I was in Dundrum and I was down in one of their houses for my tea one evening and I was chatting away. And then my nephew and niece, they're grown up, ask me 'What’s the theme?'
"I eyeballed them, Meet the Fockers style, and said 'You gotta do better than that.'
"It was like 'More gin for Uncle Paddy!'
"You can drown me in gin and it’s not coming out of me," he added gleefully.
As the father to two young sons, eight-year-old Milo and six-year-old James, with his wife Cat Deeley, the Toy Show was already a big deal in their home.
But funnily enough, seeing their dad take over the presenting duties wasn't such a big deal to the boys.
"What was really funny is that they couldn't care less that I was hosting," he laughed.
"There was that thing of 'Oh, there’s Dad dressed as an elf'. And then once they got that out of the way, it was like 'Anyway, I want that, I want that...'"
The excitement levels for Christmas are already high in the Kielty-Deeley household. He said his youngest son James recently wrote a letter to Santa and sealed it shut without showing his parents what was on his Christmas wish list.
"What did you put in the letter?" Kielty said he asked his son.
"That’s between me and Santa," James replied gravely.
"The good news is, our James’s letter, by the time the Toy Show finishes, that letter is going to be in the bin," Kielty added with laugh.
The family will be celebrating Christmas in Kielty's hometown in Co Down.
"We're doing Christmas in Dundrum this year, which they are mad for, they just love it," he said of his boys.
"They were over there in the summer and the eldest fella was playing in a Cúl Camps (GAA camp) and they asked 'Are we going home for Christmas? [I said] 'We're going home for Christmas.' Great.
[They asked] "Can we wear our Toy Show pyjamas on Christmas Eve? I said 'You can wear your Toy Show pyjamas for as long as you want!'"
And if he could make a Christmas wish for all of the Toy Show viewers across Ireland and around the world, what would that be?
After a considered pause, Kielty replied faux-solemnly: "My Toy Show wish would be that every toy that any kid wants for Christmas is already built on Christmas morning.
"As a man who has sat knee deep in bolts and put together racing cars and wooden shelves on Christmas morning, knee deep in Lego and gin, if I could wave a Christmas magic wand and go 'It’s all built!' That would be the one."
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