Pat Kenny blasts Ray D’Arcy’s RTE humiliation claim after shock war of words & backs Kielty’s new Late Late Show recipe

PAT Kenny has hit back at Ray D’Arcy’s claim that he was publicly humiliated by RTE — and insisted he had a “well-rewarded career.”

Former Radio 1 star D’Arcy abruptly left the national broadcaster last year after being informed his afternoon slot would not continue.

In a series of interviews since his exit, Ray has complained the move left him completely blindsided — and that he was glad his late mother was no longer around to see how he was treated.

But speaking to The Irish Sun on Sunday this week, his ex-Montrose colleague Pat pointed out how D’Arcy had previously “abandoned” RTE for commercial radio.

Pat told us: “Don’t forget he (Ray) abandoned RTE to go to Today FM, without a look over his shoulder. So that’s the choice you make.

“You take the risk and sometimes it’s very good for you. And I think by and large, he (Ray) had a very well-rewarded career.”

Pat spoke to us exclusively shortly after it was announced that Patrick Kielty had signed a new deal to continue on as Late Late Show host.

Montrose chiefs announced this week that Kielty would return for another three seasons.

But the confirmation came after months of mystery over prolonged negotiations between the Co Down man and RTE.

Last May we revealed that a new sticking point in the stand-off between the broadcaster and RTE bosses was Kielty’s wish that the Late Late Show go hard again and tackle serious subjects — as it did under original host Gay Byrne.

Now all eyes will be on the show when it returns this September to see if RTE agreed with Kielty.

Or will RTE bosses have the last say with the Late Late remaining as a Graham Norton-style show.

Pat, who hosted the Friday night flagship for a decade, told The Irish Sun on Sunday: “If that’s what RTE are aiming for (Graham Norton show), I think that’s impossible.

“If you were based in London, you could do it. Because Graham can get international guests of that calibre on the couch, week in, week out but that’s impossible to do in Dublin.”

The Dalkey man, who attracted a peak audience of nearly a million people to his final Late Late Show in May 2009, believes that the Late Late Show needs to become a town hall show again.

Pat told us: “I’d be in favour of that. Absolutely! Because that’s what the recipe of the Late Late was.

“It started as a summer filler with Gay, then evolved as time went on, they put a panel on, they talked about everything. It became a forum for national conversation. The late producer Larry Masterson likened Late Late to an Irish dinner party.

“There should be laughter, tears, jokes and bad jokes, a row and a walk out and an ‘oul’ song. The Late Late should be all of that.

“But at the end of Ryan’s time, it lost that because during Covid, you couldn’t have a studio audience. I think that changed the feeling of the show.”

While Kielty may want more ­editorial control, Pat warns even Byrne didn’t have the final call.

Pat said: “Gay would have established the general direction of the show. But at the end of the day, RTE bosses would be the bosses.

“Even if Gay said, ‘I want X and Y guest’, the department heads in RTE were able to overrule him.

“If the bosses in RTE wanted Z, you ended up with Z. That’s just the way it was.”

Pat continued: “But you also have to bear in mind that there’s a change in how people watch TV now.

“You can just go on YouTube and find the clip there. The only thing that’s unmissable is breaking news or a penalty shootout.”

That’s not to say Pat is not a fan of the current host.

He certainly is, appearing on the chat show himself earlier this year.

Pat told us: “I have always liked Patrick. I think you’re only as good as the material you’re given, and that included me a few months ago.

“If I didn’t like Patrick, I wouldn’t have gone on. So I do have a lot of time for Patrick. I do think it was a poisoned chalice he was handed. He had a legacy to live up to and that’s hard.”

While RTE have refused to say how much Kielty will earn in his new deal, which will see him host the Late Late until 2028, Pat like everyone else is scratching his head over why the contract negotiations took so long.

Pat told us: “I’m pleased for Patrick. I hope he has done a good deal. I don’t know how they (RTE) sweetened it for him but they must have sweetened it for him because he certainly would have signed up much earlier.”

RTE say the new three-year deal with Patrick allows for up to 30 shows per season, compared to the 36 shows per year done by his ­predecessor Ryan Tubridy.

But no one knows how many Late Late shows will air next ­season. And Pat believes cutting back on the Friday night show would be a mistake.

He said: “I don’t know the final outcome (of negotiations).

“If for example they made the run shorter. Patrick gets the same money and does fewer programmes, that cannot be good for the brand.

“I think it’s shorter in duration on every edition and also a shorter number of shows every year.”

Meanwhile, Pat said he will be tuned in to see Patrick on the Late Late Show this September.

Pat said: “I will certainly tune in, if I’m around, but for many years Friday nights were not my own.”

And the broadcaster looks back with fondness on his own decade hosting the Late Late — from trying on Brigitte Nielsen’s boots to ­famously ripping up a pair of ­tickets to the Toy Show live on air, when a competition winner told him she didn’t want them.

Pat grins: “I absolutely loved doing the Late Late Show.”