RTÉ's Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty has said there has been no changes to his €250,000 salary and he “hasn’t thought about” whether his three-season deal will be renewed.
“That deal is done and I am more than happy with what I’m currently earning,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Mr Kielty also said that he hasn’t been told when the production of the show might move from its Montrose base in south Dublin or where to, under RTÉ's master plan to revive the national broadcaster.
The 53-year-old was speaking as the Late Late Show returns to television on Friday night, with guests including golfer Rory McIlroy, young rappers Kabin Crew and Lisdoonvarna Crew, comedian John Bishop, Irish athletes from the recent Olympics and Paralympics and musicians John Sheahan and Phil Coulter.
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Mr Kielty, who is from Dundrum, Co Down, revealed last year that he would be paid €250,000 per 30-show season and that if additional shows are requested by RTÉ these would be paid “on a pro-rata basis”. He waived flight and accommodation expenses.
When asked about his plans and whether he would renew his three-season contract, he said: “I haven’t thought about that at all.
“I love doing the show and if there’s a chance to keep doing it, it would be nice. But you’re not in charge of these things and you never know what happens in the world of entertainment.”
RTÉ has set out plans to move the production of the Late Late Show and Fair City from Montrose, with director general Kevin Bakhurst briefing staff in recent months.
Mr Kielty said while the idea of “getting your head around the [Late Late] show not coming from this building is very weird”, television was about “moments” while TV studios “kind of look the same”.
“If you’re in a studio and you can still make the same moment and you can still capture the same energy, I think that’s what’s important,” he said.
He said that the Late Late Show carries “so much history and energy around it, that wherever the show is going to be made, it will still feel special”.
The TV presenter, who is based in London with his wife Cat Deeley and their two children, said there are “no plans yet” to relocate to Dundrum, where he also has a home.
He also spoke about meeting Pope Francis in the Vatican alongside fellow comedians Ardal O’Hanlon and Tommy Tiernan last June, describing it as “a weird fever dream”.
Mr Kielty said his face had “swollen up” during the trip and that it was only in the days after that he discovered he had the shingles.
“It was only afterwards that I actually found out I had shingles so there was a chance that I had given the Pope shingles,” he said.
“I was never so glad to actually see him [the Pope] the week after in full health giving a blessing ... it was a surreal experience.”
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