There's nothing quite like Late Late Toy Show night. What was already a staple of the Irish calendar for the whole country has exploded in recent years as a new tradition is born: everyone piling onto Twitter for a national watch-along.
And with that comes great memes. Like, really great memes. Irish Twitter rarely fails to deliver on Toy Show night and this year was no different. So sit back, relax and pour through the best reactions to this year's show.
The very best Late Late Toy Show memes
First and foremost, it's always important to start off right and have your Toy Show bingo card at the ready.
Toy show bingo #LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/36QwrU00wh
— TwistedDoodles (@twisteddoodles) November 25, 2022
After a trippy enough musical number introducing the theme of the night, The Wizard of Oz, Tubridy, kicking off his thirteenth year hosting the show, was straight off the mark with an impressive amount of bad puns. After about fifty of those and some diminishing returns on "wahays" from the audience, it was time to swiftly move on to the first guests of the night.
The Lolipop guild kids did a good job capturing the facial expressions that have haunted me since childhood#LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/0QtCSbVfih
— Śéáń (@fiercemilder) November 25, 2022
Almost straight away we were introduced to one of the heroes of the night. None other than Billy from Kildare, sporting an impressive mullet. As Billy himself said, it was business in the front and party in the back.
Billy is a simple man with simple pleasures, all he needs in life is a good haircut and a Centra pasta bake. The future Garda was quick to steal the hearts of pretty much everyone watching.
YES. MULLET CHILD. ICON.
#LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/XSaqYzkoy9— Seán Connolly (@TheSonicScrew) November 25, 2022
Only in Ireland would you see a five year old with a mullet dressed as a garda driving around in a tiny car to fleetwood mac on prime time television #LateLateToyShow
— eve olivia (@eveoliviaa) November 25, 2022
The next kid to win us over had an equally impressive head of hair. It was Cealan Green from East Wall, who absolutely loved Liverpool because "unlike most teams that only have one good player, Liverpool players are all good." We're sure Arthur Melo is delighted to hear that.
I have never been so jealous of a child’s hair, the VOLUME #LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/y8QWDJrC7u
— Kendra Becker (@kendra_becker) November 25, 2022
Cealan was greeted by the first guest of the night and it was a big one; Liverpool and Ireland goalkeeping sensation Caoimhín Kelleher. Just like Cealan, we were buzzin' - even if plenty of viewers found the idea of Kelleher explaining the Toy Show to his teammates a hilarious one.
Caoimhin Kelleher surprised a child, Cealan, on tonight's @RTELateLateShow. Kelleher also presented the child with a signed kit from the Liverpool squad and a trip to Anfield. Caoimhin Kelleher - great guy. pic.twitter.com/Bn6bfQbz2f
— DaveOCKOP (@DaveOCKOP) November 25, 2022
Could you imagine Caoimhin Kelleher trying to explain to the Liverpool squad that he needs them to sign a jersey for the Toy show #LateLateToyShow
— Rachel Ní Éanacháin (@rachelhenehan1) November 25, 2022
Cealan got the chance to take a penalty against Kelleher, and buried it in the top corner. Some viewers joked that his club and national team managers wouldn't have been too impressed.
Jurgen Klopp watching Caoimhín Kelleher concede a penalty to a blindfolded 8 year old boy #LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/nbxYOnJi2v
— Broccoli! Deadly! (@RobertFrogert) November 25, 2022
Bazunu saves that one tbf #LateLateToyShow
— Richard Chambers (@newschambers) November 25, 2022
In the corner of the smoking area in a local pub 40 years from now, his drinking buddies call bullshite as one man tells of how he once put one past the Irish Keeper in front of Millions and he did it with his eyes closed #Baller #LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/cpral38GzU
— Bill Hill (@BillHillWicklow) November 25, 2022
Next up was the iconic Áron Gibbons and his love for planes. Sporting a stylish pilot's get-up, the young man had everyone howling as he lead Tubridy through security and onto a plane play-set.
i would trust this child with my life #LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/0krIynnMYZ
— dakota schiffer apologist (@LegallyLucrecia) November 25, 2022
“send us that picture from last night we looked great”
the picture:#latelatetoyshow pic.twitter.com/gMfQiDu4fH— Tara (@chewey_lewey) November 25, 2022
Hitting us right in the feels was Saoibh and her excellent jokes. Ryan brought out Saoibh's best mates from her time in hospital in a truly special moment. And they all got gifted a trip to DisneyLand, unreal.
All the celebrities you could bring out and Saoibh is the most excited to see her friends from hospital 😭 #LateLateToyShow
— Aoife Plunkett (@aoifeplunkie) November 25, 2022
The show was bringing the star power this year as we saw Catriona, who champions her autism with absolute class, get a touching message from one of her idols, Harry Potter star Emma Watson.
Ah this was so lovely.
Emma Watson is an icon 👏#LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/JeB6so8yAj— Caolán Mc Aree (@Caolanmcaree) November 25, 2022
My favourite part of the show by far#LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/9GKxBM2nhU
— Not the RTÉ News (@notthertenews) November 25, 2022
Cuckoo and her band of grandchildren Cuckoo's Nest kicked off the musical numbers, rocketing their chances to represent the country at next year's Eurovision into the stratosphere. They were followed by Caillin Joe and an audience-consuming song from Wicked.
send cuckoo’s nest to eurovision next year or we riot at dawn #LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/MjlWt9xnpm
— ava ☃️TOY SHOW!! (@astudyinava) November 25, 2022
The audience having a tarp put over them in the middle of a show for a performance #LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/PWgKitOzFk
— Frances Farmer (@Fiaclaa) November 25, 2022
Caillin Joe with the song of the night #LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/kfkhrCX7wF
— Jack! (@JackPatFlanders) November 25, 2022
The final surprise came for young football fan Emmie, who was surprised by a visit by the Irish women's team, including Katie McCabe. Emmie and her family were also told they will be going to next year's Women's World Cup - and viewers were blown away by the classy touch from the WNT.
Katie McCabe played 90 minutes for Arsenal in their Champions League match v Juventus last night in Turin and 24 hours later, is back in Dublin with her @FAIWomen team mates making a dream come through for one young fan.
Hard not to get emotional watching those scenes 👏🏼👏🏼— Conan Byrne (@conanbyrnecb7) November 26, 2022
It was a strong show all in all, and the memes were plentiful. Overall, the show managed to raise over 3 million euro for the Community Foundation of Ireland. Once again the Irish people showed their incredible generosity and had a great laugh while doing so, that's what it's all about. We just hope nobody got stuck with a dodgy stream and missed all the fun.
RTE software engineers tonight trying to keep RTE International Player going during the #LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/UUEdqdnAXC
— Declan Cashin (@Tweet_Dec) November 25, 2022
SEE ALSO: Late Late Toy Show: All Of Ireland Wants A Word With Woo Man
