Patrick Kielty's emotional send off as he signs off his first series of The Late Late Show

Patrick Kielty has signed off on his first series as host of The Late Late Show.

It has been nine months since the Co Down presenter took on the iconic hosting job from Ryan Tubrity who left the show after 14 years.

On the star-studded final episode of the series on Friday, dubbed The Last Last Show, Patrick reflected on his time on the RTÉ talk show.

Read more: Strictly judge says he thought Patrick Kielty would 'never amount to anything'

Coming out to the crowd to 'The Final Countdown', the Dundrum man confirmed that we will be seeing him back on our screen when the show returns in September.

Patrick said: "It's so great to see you all on what is a really special night for me because, as some of you may know, it is of course my last show..."

As the crowd erupted into a gag about being glad to be saying goodbye to Patrick, including balloons and streamers, he stressed it was just the end of his time on this series.

"What are you doing? I'm not going anywhere," he laguhed.

"I'll be back in September."

Patrick contained: "What a first season it's been folks - it literally has flown.

"Honestly, it feels just like yesterday since I first walked out onto the stage with a little bit of pee running down my leg with absolutely no idea what the hell I was supposed to be doing.

"And suddenly here we are, not nine months later, with a little bit of pee running down my leg and absolutely no idea what the hell I was supposed to be doing."

For the jam-packed finale, Patrick was joined by Lord of the Dance himself Michael Flatley and Matt Molloy of The Chieftains before getting into character with the cast of The Young Offenders.

Musical guests Chasing Abbey performed on the show, marking a full circle moment as they were the first music act to perform with Patrick in the hosting seat last September.

NI acting talents Ciaran Hynds and Bronagh Gallagher were joined by their co-star Siobhan Cullen as they chatted to Patrick about the new series of The Dry.

To sing him out, Derry's own D:Ream also made an appearance to sing their hit 'Things Can Only Get Better'.

Getting emotional as the credits rolled, Patrick thanked everyone involved for making his first series so special.

He said: "I just want to say that when I first walked out here last September, I said that it was the honour of a lifetime to do this job.

"After nine months of sitting in this chair, I now know that it is also the joy of a lifetime.

"And that is because of everyone who works on this show and mostly because of all of you watching - the way you have welcomed me into your Friday nights has absolutely meant the world to me.

"So thank you for tuning in and for being so kind."

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