Patrick Kielty is a serious contender to take over as Late Late Show host

He's second favourite.

Patrick Kielty has become a front-runner for the role of The Late Late Show host. The Northern Irish comedian is now seen as a popular replacement for current host Ryan Tubridy when he steps down in May. After 14 years, Tubridy will pass on his hosting duties after his last show on Friday, May 26th.

Paddy Power bookmakers have now slashed their odds on the 52-year-old comedian making him the second favourite to take over as host.

Outsider odds of 12/1 have also plummeted over recent days to 2/1.

Claire Byrne remains the number one favourite to become the first-ever female host of the Late Late but, RTÉ still hasn't budged on who will replace Tubs. A Paddy Power spokesperson said: "We've seen some significant bets on Patrick Kielty to get the Late Late Show job. "So much so that we've had to chop his price from 12/1 to 2/1."

Who will replace Tubs?

TV presenter, Cat Deeley said her husband Patrick would do "the most phenomenal job" if he was to become the new host of the Friday night chat show. In a recent interview with Life Magazine, Cat said Patrick has the correct balance between "entertainment and politics". However, she believes that RTÉ bosses will favour a female to take over the role. Over the past couple of months, Ryan has been open in speaking about his retirement when presenting his radio show on RTÉ Radio 1. He said he wants to travel when he finishes up on the show but doesn't have any concrete plans yet. Ryan recently received a little bit of backlash after he revealed his controversial solution to the pressure surrounding his replacement. He said AI should take over: "I think this is possible, just put it through some kind of machine and out it goes. Or a hologram, that's the other thing. "If they can do it for Abba they can do it here. That solves the problem."

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