Ryan Tubridy opened up this morning about the Late Late Toy Show and the "humbling and heartening" response he's received from the public since Friday night.
It seemed the whole country was glued to the TV set on Friday night for a "beautiful" Toy Show – which left many diving for the handkerchiefs.
This morning, a tired Tubridy admitted to feeling "broken" after a night of high emotion, but was audibly proud as he told listeners: "It seems we brought a little Oz to Kansas, and that's what the country needed."
The 47-year-old – who won legions of plaudits for the way he presented a Toy Show that took place amid a deadly pandemic – added that the reaction of the country has been "overwhelming."
He admitted: "I didn't spent a lot of time outside my house this weekend – I was a little bit broken. I still am, to be honest with you.
"There were a lot of tears," he added of the public's reaction to a programme described by some as the finest Toy Show ever.
"People were on the cusp of having an old cry anyway, and they just needed an escape – a release valve. Thanks to the beautiful children we met on Friday night, we got that escape that we needed."
The Dubliner said he's yet to watch the show back – besides the hilarious clip of him swearing live on TV – but said: "It's live, there's kids, it's Christmas – what do you expect? The answer is: the unexpected."
Of the children on the show, many of whom made a huge impression on the public in Ireland and abroad, he said the "beautiful" children had made the programme what it was.
He had only good things to say about Adam, the six-year-old boy who stole the hearts of the country and earned a shout-out from NASA after his appearance on the Toy Show.
"He was like a little Buddha on a cloud, even the way he moved in his chair. He was otherworldly, and kind, and a beautiful family. And his dad was with him – his dad's a lovely man.
"He had a lovely effect on everybody – a lovely contagion of kindness."
