Northern Irish comedian, Patrick Kielty, reels in excitement as he prepares to make his Late Late Show hosting debut tonight.

Kielty is set to fill the shoes of Ryan Tubridy, who recently found himself in hot water amid RTÉ earner scandal.

He reminds himself to enjoy the experience of taking over the iconic Irish chat show: "The one thing that I promised myself right the way through this - this week more than ever - is if you're not here to actually enjoy every little bit of this week, then what's the point in doing the job?"

The busy County Down native is also set to star in bittersweet comedy-drama set in Belfast, Ballywalter. In his first dramatic role, Kielty co-stars alongside Dublin actress Seána Kerslake. He plays Shane, who exiles himself in Ballywalter following the break-up of his marriage.

Ballywalter comes to cinemas on September 22 and you can watch the trailer here:

Amid the film release, Kielty revealed that his main emotion ahead of his RTÉ One chat show hosting debut was, "excitement".

He remains positive that the show will be able to be enjoyed by all: "You know, I think it's kind of about having fun. If things are fun and things go wrong, I think that's kind of hopefully the tone of the show… I think there'll be ebbs and flows and hopefully something in there for everybody."

The line-up for this evening's show has not been announced but I'm sure the whole country is curious to see how the comedian steps up to the job as the new talk show host.

"I can see the pitch - it’s time to get the boots on and time to make the show," he states.

The Late Late Show is on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player at 9.35pm tonight, Friday, September 15.