PATRICK KIELTY HAS said presenting the Late Late Toy Show is a “massive honour”, as the theme of this year’s televised Christmas extravaganza was revealed to be the movie Elf.

Kielty insisted that the failure of ‘Toy Show the Musical’ last year has not damaged the brand of the annual show, ahead of his big debut. 

Speaking to reporters at a preview event on the set of the show in the RTÉ studios on Wednesday, Kielty spoke of his nerves and excitement ahead of the big show tonight. 

He had plenty to say on what presenting the Toy Show means to him, and told an anecdote about getting stopped by a young child in Dublin in the last week. 

“There was this young couple with a five-year-old who came up to me and said, ‘Are you the Toy Show guy?’ up until then, mentally, I didn’t think of myself as that, but I thought yeah, actually, I am. And she went ‘good luck!”, Kielty said, reflecting on the pressures of the gig. 

In keeping with the theme of this year’s show Kielty is promising we’ll see Santa’s workshop, elves, “little bits of New York”, and of course, “lots of fun”. 

On the trickier questions, Kielty was less forthcoming. 

When asked if he was worried about how his ratings will compare to Tubridy’s, he said “I’m never concerned about that, they make for interesting articles, but it is about doing the job for me”. 

Asked about Tubridy’s new radio gig on Virgin in the UK, Kielty wished his predecessor luck. 

“I was delighted when he got that gig,” Kielty said. 

On being pressed as to how he is managing to balance asking guests of the Late Late hard hitting questions alongside making the show entertaining, Kielty was diplomatic in his answer. 

“With any interview, you have to make your decisions on what to ask based on who is there, and who is sitting beside them, and all those things, you do your job, and do your best.”

On the matter of Toy Show the Musical being a commercial disaster last year, and whether it had damaged the brand of the show, Kielty said he didn’t think it had, and added that he wasn’t involved at the time. 

Describing how surreal the prospect of hosting his first Toy Show is, as someone who watched it growing up when Gay Byrne was the presenter, Kielty said when he saw the ‘Elf’ themed set, he was transported back in time. 

“You are back to being eight years of age, in Dundrum, with the fire alight, watching the show,” he said. 

“For me, it will be a massive honour to walk out on Friday night and be part of this party,” he said. 

Kielty isn’t the only one who is excited about making their Toy Show debut. 

Young Kelston from Brookefield in Tallaght cannot wait to appear on the show. 

He had no idea he was in the running until after he had been selected. 

“My nanny rang me and said she’d auditioned me for it. I didn’t know. I was jumping around [when I found out],” he said. 

Asked what his favourite part of watching the show is he said “I just like everything about the show”. 

Kelston said that the part about appearing on the show that he is most looking forward to is “being famous”.