This year’s Late Late Toy Show is inspired by by Dr Seuss’s famous Christmas tale The Grinch..
Reflecting on the Toy Show’s “genesis” from small beginnings as a 30-minute slot under Gay Byrne in 1975 to the highly anticipated phenomenon of today, host Patrick Kielty said he is feeling nostalgic in advance of its 50th anniversary.
“If you’re a grandparent you actually remember Gay [Byrne] coming out and doing that segment in ‘75, which wasn’t a full show, and you realise the genesis of it. Suddenly that’s part of your Christmas. Then the next generation remember Pat and they remember Ryan and now there’s another generation of kids that are tuning in for a different reason.”
“Culturally what we do in this country and how we come together, it’s unique,” he said, adding that the show has come to have “a life of its own”.
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This will be Kielty’s third year presenting the show, and he feels at ease in his role as master of ceremonies and knowing what lies behind the magic is out of his hands.
“We plan the show for months and then the moments that actually make the show are the moments that happen on the night ... I’m now at the zen Buddha stage of Toy Show where it’s going to happen and I’m not in control so let’s hang on for the ride and see what we get,” he said.
The opening of this year’s show will be narrated by actor Liam Neeson, transporting its audience into the fictional town of Whoville.
Frankie Griffin (10), from Walkinstown, Dublin, will be one of more than 300 children taking part in Friday night’s show. He cartwheeled around the RTÉ studio kitted out in his WTA dance studio hoodie, giving a taste of what’s to come.
Frankie is “most excited for the audience and just dancing with everyone who’s taking part in the Late Late Toy Show”. He has been doing hip hop and lyrical dance since he was two years old.
Nina He (11) from Co Fermanagh will also make an appearance on stage, where she’ll be singing.
It’s not Nina’s first TV rodeo, although it’s the first time she will appear on screen herself. She stars as the lead in CBeebies animation Yukee, which is all about introducing young children to music. Her character plays the ukulele and goes on adventures with musical animals in a magical garden.
The “county parade” will make a comeback this year, after first featuring on the programme in 2024. Thirty-two children – one for each county – are set to take to the stage in a display of dancing and pageantry.
The Toy Show Appeal, a fundraising initiative that coincides with the broadcast, will also be a feature. Since it first launched in 2020, the appeal has raised €26 million.
What began as a short segment 50 years ago to give parents an idea of the variety of toys available in shops (while their children were supposed to be tucked up in bed), could be the biggest Irish television event of 2025.
Last year, 1.5 million people tuned in to RTÉ One to watch, while the show broke a new streaming record on RTÉ Player with 556,000 streams.
The Late Late Toy Show airs on Friday, December 5th, on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player at 9.35pm
