RTÉ denies rumours that Ryan Tubridy will return to present ‘Arena’ radio arts programme | Irish Independent
Flor Lynch
RTÉ is dismissing suggestions that Ryan Tubridy could return in January to present the Radio 1 weeknight arts show Arena.
Tubridy (52) is currently on honeymoon after his wedding to former Rose of Tralee Clare Kambamettu in Galway last weekend.
RTÉ has sought to dampen these rumours, which have been circulating since August when it was confirmed that he repaid €150,000 in the wake of the controversy that saw him leave the broadcaster.
He said at the time: “I made this payment through my solicitor, without any discussions with RTÉ — or with anyone acting on their behalf — and without condition. I have said on various occasions that I intended making this payment and I’m happy to have been able to do so today.”
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Tubridy had been paid two sums of €75,000 by RTÉ on top of his declared salary, which were kept secret from the public. When the existence of the payments were revealed in 2023, RTÉ was plunged into crisis.
RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst has previously said that the door was open for Tubridy to return. Mr Bakhurst reiterated that position when he was questioned by TDs at an Oireachtas meeting last week.
The Arena programme had been presented by Seán Rocks for 16 years until his death in July aged 64. The programme is currently being presented by Rick O’Shea.
An RTÉ spokesman told the Sunday Independent that the rumours are not true and did not comment further.
Speaking about Tubridy’s possible return to the national broadcaster, one former RTÉ radio presenter, who asked not to be identified, said: “If the rumours are true, I’m delighted Ryan is coming back to RTÉ. He shouldn’t have let go in the first place.”
Ryan Tubridy and Clare Kambamettu got married last weekend. Photo: Aoife Herriott
Before the payments scandal broke, Tubridy presented The Late Late Show for 14 years, and a Saturday evening chat show, Tubridy Tonight, for five years prior to that, from 2004 to 2009.
After his departure from RTÉ in 2023, Tubridy moved to London to present the midmorning show on the national station Virgin Radio UK, which follows The Chris Evans Breakfast Show.
The Ryan Tubridy Show, which is broadcast from 10am to 1pm from the UK, began on January 2, 2024. It is simultaneously broadcast on Dublin station Q102.
According to the most recently available listenership from the UK Radio Joint Audience Research, it had 503,000 weekly listeners in April to June of this year, a 10pc increase from his first quarter (January-March 2024) which had 457,000 listeners.
The latest Joint National Listenership Research figures from November 2025 (for the period July-September) show his Irish listenership on Q102 to be 27,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the same period last year.
Tubridy’s agent Noel Kelly and Virgin Radio UK were also contacted for comment.