Ahead of his first ever Late Late Toy Show, Patrick Kielty spoke to Janice Butler about putting his mark on the biggest show of the year, his own childhood Christmas memories and family life this festive season.

Patrick Kielty is at home in London. Sporting a cheery yellow jumper, he's in fine form ahead of the biggest night of the year in the TV schedule, The Late Late Toy Show. The Dundrum, Co Down native has been at the helm of the Friday night chat show for two months, taking over the reins during what can only be described as turbulent times in RTÉ.

He remarks that he felt he was finding his feet with the long running chat show; that is, until his first ever Toy Show came knocking.

"The Toy Show comes at a point where you’re thinking 'OK, I know how to do this, I feel like I’m settling into a pattern’ and then someone takes the snow globe and just shakes it up again and goes ‘Ah ha, you thought you were settled did you?’" he laughs.

"There’s been so much going on; we’ve done filming already for the Toy Show, there’s been a sequence with a stunt harness. The people in the Toy Show office are on it all the time and they’re always pages ahead but then they tell the stuff on a need-to-know basis. So it feels like any sense of settling into this that I had, has been turned on its head again," he adds.

Patrick Kielty and Cat Deeley

Away from the spotlight, the comedian and presenter is also in the throes of family life; noting that one of his kids has an ear infection and that he'll be doing doctor duties after our chat. We agree that work is a time-out from family chaos. "We’ve a five- and a seven-year-old and when you get them up the school path on a Monday, then it feels like the weekend," he laughs.

With wife Cat Deeley and the two kids (Milo, 7, and James, 5) at home in London, I wonder how he’s finding the commute to Dublin, which he does weekly. Funnily enough, he says this is the most structure he’s had in his varied career as a comedian, presenter and actor.

"I was only thinking about this the other day, that this is probably the most routine I’ve ever had in my whole life. As a stand-up, I spent my life living out of a bag, not knowing what I was doing next week. The other thing which is interesting is that nowadays most people are used to working one or two days at home, so my routine now is what everyone else is doing...kind of," he answers.

Gay Byrne was the original Toy Man, donning the trademark Christmas jumper, before passing the torch to Pat Kenny, but Ryan Tubridy really brought the Toy Show to another level, creating a buzz each year with a different theme, combined with an all-signing, all-dancing show.

Does Kielty feel any pressure to bring his own spin to the Toy Show?

"Well, we have a theme, so themes are staying," he reveals, "and I was very excited when I found out what the theme is. The costume department has been going flat to the mat on a few wee surprises. But I just think, from my point of view, it’s like how do you bring yourself to the show as well? You just have to be yourself in the middle of all that fun. The Toy Show is the opposite of the actual show, which is walking out, in charge and leading it, but with the Toy Show, you can pretend you’re in charge, but no one’s going to believe it," he laughs.

"I don’t take myself too seriously and I’ve been to enough five-year-old birthday parties to realise that you just got to go and have fun with it. What’s planned and what’s going to happen might be two very different things."

Having shown off his singing skills already on The Late Late (a duet with Daniel O’Donnell comes to mind), does he plan on a song and dance solo performance on the night?

"Up until the point that I saw how good the kids actually are, it might have been a plan to sing and dance, but I’m slowly trying to reverse out of that," he laughs. "There’s little bits and pieces that we’ll be trying, but in terms of the big all singing, all dancing stuff, I’m aware of my limitations, let’s put it that way."

Since it first began in 1962, The Late Late Show has been a headline maker, creating many watercooler moments and in modern times, it sets X (formerly Twitter) alight every Friday night, with much criticism or praise being directed at the host. Ryan Tubridy admitted in the past that the commentary got too much for him and he went off X; so how does Patrick find the feedback?

"I don’t try and check in, but I also don’t try and avoid it; I just go on my social media as I normally would. I think the brilliant thing about the show is that everybody still feels that it’s their show, so weirdly for me if someone likes something you do or doesn’t; both those opinions are completely valid. So the fact that people still feel ownership of the show is probably the most important thing.

"The social media stuff is that instantaneous feedback that’s now part of our world and you’ve got to roll with those punches," he replies.

We need your consent to load this Instagram contentWe use Instagram to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

Patrick’s own childhood memories of watching Gay Byrne’s Toy Show with his brothers in Dundrum, Co Down, are sprinkled with hilarity.

"Most of my memories of the Toy Show were me thinking that the stuff that Gay was showing us might actually end up in Main Street, Dundrum on Christmas morning and ultimately being disappointed," he laughs.

"Everything got changed or downgraded in our house, I remember Gay coming into the set on this battery-operated car one year and we were asking for one of those. Then two peddle tractors turned up instead. But nowadays, what kids see on the telly, it’s possible that they’ll actually get it. It’s funny looking back and how it’s all changed."

He recalls that Christmas was always a big deal for his family and while life took a tragic turn in 1988 when his father Jack, a local businessman and building contractor, was shot by the UFF, he holds very dear his childhood Christmas memories.

"Life’s not black and white; I think we were very lucky that when my Dad died, I was 16, almost 17 and all the good Santa Claus years and all that good stuff, we had it. Christmas was pretty big in our house, because my Da was a builder and that idea of workmen finishing up and getting Christmas bonuses and drinks is very much in my memory.

"If you’d money back then, you had a real tree and we had a tinsel tree that would be taken down from the roof space every year and you wouldn’t dream of replacing it. What’s funny is my Ma has kept some of those decorations that I made. We made a lot of stuff; I did an angel for the tree and my Ma gave me that so we’ve now got that in our house. Christmas has always been good memories for me."

We need your consent to load this Instagram contentWe use Instagram to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

This year, the family will probably spend Christmas with Cat’s parents in Birmingham, as he says that they have to alternate each year between there and his mother, Mary, in Dundrum, to keep things fair.

"We do what every married couple does: we decide which side of the family we’re going to spend Christmas with. I have this conversation with Cat every year: I’m 52, at what point can they not just come to us? But isn’t that part of it; everyone becomes a kid again at Christmas and you have to do what you’re told? It hasn’t really progressed," he says.

Back to the show at hand, and while he says any nervousness is held at bay, for now, he reveals that his biggest critics, his two boys, will be watching the Toy Show from the UK, the first time they’ve watched any show he presents – a big night for all so?

"I’m still at the stage where I don’t think my two boys need to know that I have a very close relationship to Santa," he says. "The two boys haven’t really seen Cat or I host any show so if the first show they know I host is the Toy Show, where do I go from that? I’m going to surprise them by letting them watch it this year and then if they behave themselves, next year they could come over.

"They will let me know what they think; that’s how I’ll know if it’s gone OK. They’ll be the real critics."