How Rose of Tralee presenter Kathryn Thomas plans to channel the spirit of a 1990s TV icon this week... as she hints at the VERY cheeky plans she has in store for her co-host Dáithí Ó Sé

Rose of Tralee co-host Kathryn Thomas will channel the spirit of Paula Yates and her famous ‘on the bed’ interviews on the airwaves this week – and Dáithí Ó Sé can expect a good slagging.

The busy presenter is in Kerry to host Tralee’s annual festival tomorrow and Tuesday evening, alongside Ó Sé. 

And rather than take the week off from her breakfast show on Q102, hard-working Thomas will broadcast from her hotel room tomorrow and Tuesday morning before turning her attention to Rose duties in the afternoon.

She told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘We’ll do it from the bed in the Meadowlands [hotel]. 

'So it’s me in my dressing gown, Dáithí getting into bed with me, the Roses getting into bed with me. So it’s all a bit Paula Yates.’

Bob Geldof’s late ex-wife memorably conducted ‘on the bed’ interviews in the 1990s on the Channel 4 TV show The Big Breakfast. 

'And Thomas promises listeners the ‘inside track and the gossip’ on all the goings-on in Tralee, in a year with a particularly lively group of Roses with no cliques forming.

‘I’ve only done it for four years, but sometimes you’ll get a group where maybe the American girls tend to stick together, or some of them will kind of really gel with the Irish or the UAE girls or whatever. 

'But there was this real sense when I was with them that it was a real gang.’

The broadcaster admitted there had been ‘a lot of shouting and singing and slagging’ among this year’s Roses.

‘There was a lot of slagging. A lot of slagging of me, a lot of slagging of Dáithí, which of course we love, and there just seems to be a good old craic vibe with this gang. 

'So let’s hope they’re all still talking to each other by the time they get to Tralee.’

Asked if behind-the-scenes drama was common among the contestants, Thomas insisted: ‘I’ve never heard of any tears, regrets, unrequited love with the escorts… I wish there was a bit more drama from that perspective, but no, nothing that I can put my finger on, honestly.’

The presenter and fitness influencer will bring her daughters, four and eight, down to the festival for the first time, though they’ll watch on TV.

‘The youngest one would cause absolute consternation if the oldest got to go and she didn’t.

‘So I’ll wait till next year when the two of them are actually both able to sit there together and sit through it, even for the first half. But they watch it at home and they love it.’

The family will spend the rest of the week – which Thomas has booked off – with her Kerry-born mother in Kenmare.

Along with three hours every weekday morning on radio, Thomas hosts the podcast Are We There Yet? and runs fitness retreats with her company Pure Results.

That is on top of regular documentaries she makes, usually for RTÉ, though she has never been on the books of the national broadcaster.

‘I’ve had a freelancer’s brain since I was 19 years of age. I have never known where the work is coming from. I have never known security. 

'I’ve never known permanent pensionable work. So I’ve always loved giving every job you do 100 per cent for the time that you’re doing it, always looking out to see what’s coming up next, seeing what’s changing in the world.’

Asked if she’d be tempted by a staff job and a radio slot in RTÉ, she said: ‘Maybe the older I get, I’ll want to take on less. 

'But right now I love the variation with all the bits and bobs that I do, and one of the main jobs that I love is being a mother. 

'I absolutely love it, and it kind of came for me quite late in life, and it’s my ultimate dream job. I’m really proud of the girls that my kids are becoming.’

She said she would have no qualms about encouraging her daughters to enter the contest.

‘Anything that instills confidence and supports women, I’m all about it, and that’s exactly what the Rose of Tralee does.’

■ The Rose of Tralee airs on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player tomorrow and Tuesday from 8pm