Kielty’s first guest of the night was Father Ted star Ardal O’Hanlon, who recently appeared as the character Seamus in the Irish series How to Get to Heaven from Belfast.

O’Hanlon spoke about his role in the Netflix thriller, the release of his first murder mystery, A Plot to Die For, some past interviews that led to misinformation in the media, and recently losing his father.

Speaking about an encounter with a journalist that led to an unfortunate newspaper headline, he said: “A few years ago… I mean many years ago, 20 years ago, I was interviewed by a woman's magazine, and mischievously, I was asked, ‘Do you take drugs?’ And I, instead of saying no, of course I don't and I disapprove of them strongly, I said, yeah, yeah, I do. I love them. I think everyone should take them. And I think you should put cocaine on your cornflakes.

“And so we're having a jolly conversation. It was a light-hearted interview. And you think, yes, as far as that will go, tone, delivery, all those beautiful things. So, fast forward about two months later, one of Ireland's leading tabloids put it up. Put this on the front page. I'm not making that up. They said ‘Father Ted star's drug shame’.

“They had a huge picture of me as Dougal in my most gormless guise and ‘Father Ted star’s drug shame’ in banner headlines, and I had to deal with that. We were actually shooting, I think, the second series of Father Ted at the time, and journalists were camped outside the set, like waiting together to get a word, you know? So that was pretty demoralising.” 

O’Hanlon said his new book, which is dedicated to his mother, was written at a time when he spent a lot of time with her, getting to know her for who she is as a person, rather than purely a mother.

“It was a really rewarding time in my life. She's a lovely woman, she's elegant, she's stoic, she's philosophical, she's good humoured, and she has no cynicism whatsoever,” he said.

“And so I wanted to write a book, sort of, you know, that she would love. I mean, she loves robust novels as well. But I just wanted to celebrate that mother-son dynamic.” 

Touching on the recent death of his father, O’Hanlon described him as “a proper patriot”.

“He lived a very full and very eventful life. I think it's fair to say. He was just flat out all day long every day, like he was a GP to begin with, on call 24 hours a day, then he gravitated into politics. He was just running around like a mad eejit half the time, you know. And he just had a great public service ethic, but he just loved to help people and had a great social conscience.“ 

Anna Hugh’s pinch-me moment 

The Co-host of Master Chef, Anna Haugh, joined Kielty, taking in her surroundings as she joined him in the live studio.

When asked by Kielty how it feels to be the new co-host, alongside Grace Dent, of one of the most popular cookery shows in the world, she said: “Well, right now, all I can think about is that I'm on the Late Late!"

“It's been incredible, you know, like I've trained for so many years as a chef, and I didn't know it would lead to a show like this, but it's just incredible,” she said.

“You get to see kind of this amazing raw talent of people who are home cooks, but that they've got something in themselves that just has to come out, and it's just mind-blowingly good.” 

Touching on filming for the show, the chef and restaurateur said: “Honestly, the show is all about the contestants, and if I went in there focused on anything else, I’d drop the ball. The crew who make the show, a little bit like this show, the magical people behind the scenes, are what keep everything driving forward.

“So when Grace and I came into that kitchen, we had our own personalities, we had our own tastes and ideas, and they manoeuvred around us to make sure that they could showcase us as hosts. And, I mean, what a privilege. I go in there, I taste food, and I tell them what I think it's, it's a dream.” 

She also touched on where her love for food came from, touching on how her mother always made everything homemade and her dad’s adventurous taste in food.

Dermot Bannon on Super Spaces, including Vogue Williams home 

Room to Improve’s Dermot Bannon, whose new show Celebrity Super Spaces kicks off this Sunday, spoke about the quirky homes that feature in the series.

Among the Irish celebrities to take part in the series were Vogue Williams, Joanne McNally, Chupi Sweetman, Aidan Gillan, and Andrew Porter, among others.

Touching on some of his favourites, Bannon said of Joanne McNally’s home: “It's like walking into a Simpsons house… same colours. But that's her. Joanne is incredible. I suppose, like, the reason we did the series was anybody who has designed their house or done something unusual was to try and find out a little bit about them, get under their skin through the design.

“So the nosiness in me was to find things that told me a little bit about them. So Joanne is an incredibly hard worker, and she does clubs in London every night to try but her whole life revolves around comedy. So the house, I think itself, was a little bit of a show, because everybody's on social media now. So every time she bought an object, did something, it kind of had to reflect that she is completely immersed in this.” 

Touching on how Vogue Williams house differs, Bannon said: “Vogue's house is Grand Central Station. That's a polite way of putting it. She has most of the family living in the house constantly, and Vogue is probably one of the most sociable people I've ever met.

“You know, it reminds me of… did anybody ever live in the student house? And you know, you come downstairs and there's about nine people in the kitchen every morning, and then all their friends. And there's this kind of really cool social aspect of it. Vogue is like a grown-up student. The house has got people in it nonstop, and she wants it that way. That's what she loves. For her, people are the furniture… they are the possessions.” 

Celebrity Super Spaces will air on Sunday, April 26 on RTÉ One.

Chris O’Dowd’s return to the Irish stage for the first time in 20 years 

Chris O’Dowd spoke about his return to the Irish stage for the first time in 20 years this year, as well as playing football with Usain Bolt and playing a sheep in a movie this summer.

Touching on his upcoming Gate Theatre debut, he said: “This summer, The Brightening Air, starting on the 17th of July. Would love people to come. It's a gorgeous play. Conor McPherson’s play set in Sligo in the 80s… about a dysfunctional family, bits of magic, bits of romance, bits of sex, bits of witchery.” 

He touched on his work on Playboy of the Western World with Cillian Murphy almost 20 years ago, taking the show to Inis Mor, Inis Oirr and all down the west coast of Ireland at the time.

He said he’s now looking forward to returning to the stage and making his Gate Theatre debut.

Touching on his new movie, he said: “I’m in a new movie called The Sheep Detectives with Hugh Jackman and Bryan Cranston and a bunch of people. It’s actually set in the west of Ireland, this novel that was called Three Bags Full. It's animated, but in the way that Babe was animated, so it's really good. It’s live action. It's a gorgeous, really family movie, you know, but really sweet.” 

Touching on his involvement in Soccer Aid ahead of his debut in May, he said: “Usain Bolt is our manager. I don’t know what to do with that. I did a little bit of football the other day, and I hadn't done any in a while, and I'm a keeper. I was kind of throwing myself around in the same way that I would have, except it was like somebody was dropping a fridge off a balcony."

Speaking about his team, he said: “We've got Edwin van der Sar as well. I've got Giorgio Chiellini at the back, and Jordi Alba and some gladiators.” 

Soccer Aid returns on May 31, as celebrities and sporting stars come together for one night of football and entertainment.

Will there be a Spice Girls reunion?

Singer Melanie C joined Kielty in the studio to play Splash Hits with studio members eager to get their hands on a pair of tickets to her 3Olympia show later this year.

Joining Kielty, Melanie C spoke about her family ties to Limerick, her family experience as a judge on The Voice Australia, flying solo as an artist, and her new music.

Touching on her new album, Sweat, and her move into a different approach to her music: “So I've been DJing for about eight years, and it really made me realise how much I love dance music, because I discovered raving when I was about 17. I was on holiday with some mates, and we knew all the bars and all the clubs and they were playing this music, and I was like, what is that?

“It was only for a couple of years before the Spice Girls started, and then, of course, when the band started, everything else stopped. So I'd kind of left it behind. And, you know, obviously this is my ninth studio album. So I made loads of music. I love so many different genres of music, but through DJing, I was like, You know what? I really want to, I want to just remember that past. You know those moments, you know when you're young and you first start going out, and you just have these beautiful shared moments with strangers. You're on a dance floor. It's euphoric. And I've been having so much.” 

Touching on the rumours that the Spice Girls will be reuniting for a 30th anniversary tour, fuelled by a video of the Spice Girls harmonising around a table together with Cruz Beckham on guitar, she said she would “love” to join the Spice Girls members on stage again but that the rumours are being fuelled by the media.

“The problem with everyone thinking it's coming is that it's constantly written about in the media, and it's like, stop it. Personally, I can only speak for myself. I would love to get back on stage with the Spice Girls.

“We have such a gorgeous relationship with Ireland. We started our stadium tour in Croke Park back in 2019. 1998, I will always call it The Point. So we've, you know, we've kind of historically started our tours here, because we know the audience is incredible, and it just gives us that confidence to get us out there.” 

Big Mel C and Spice Girls fans in the audience had their plus ones to the show play on their behalf to win tickets to her upcoming 3Olympia show, all securing the tickets to the show in October.

Cillian Donnelly also appeared on Friday night’s show, performing a Les Mis classic.