Toy Show telly dream comes true for 10-year-old boy from Limerick

A 10-YEAR-OLD boy has been chosen to represent Limerick on the Late Late Toy Show and will feature in a new segment on what is one of RTE’s most popular shows of the year.

Michael Dooley from Churchtown, Newcastle West, has dreamt of appearing on the family favourite Late Late Toy Show for years and now, finally, his dream has come true.

“He had been talking about applying for years. Producers said 4,500 children applied for the Toy Show this year, so it is amazing that he even got the audition,” Michael’s mother Trudy Dooley explained.

“He is absolutely ecstatic and bursting with excitement to have been chosen. For us, my husband Mike and I, we grew up watching it and so it is even more nostalgic to us, for him to be on it - we are so proud.”

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A sixth-class pupil at Courtenay National School, Newcastle West, Michael applied for the Toy Show, which is airing this Friday, December 6, with a 90-second video and application detailing what his pastimes are and his ambitions for the future.

The twist with this year’s show is that for the first time ever, a child from all 32 counties will feature on the much-loved show, in a segment RTÉ are calling the Late Late Toy Show County Parade.

“He had to go to Dublin for a 10-minute audition in front of seven judges,” Trudy said.

“It was three weeks after that when we heard the news that he had been picked for the county parade representing Limerick, which we were delighted with.”

Michael is a keen gymnast and is a member of the Limerick Gymnastics Club, and has won gold medals in Community Games and other club competitions.

He is also an active member of the West Limerick Athletics Club and plays the keyboard - taking lessons locally.

Despite contrary beliefs, the children that feature on the show get one family member backstage with them and other family members do not get to be in the audience.

“Lots of people think that the family get to go with the children on it, but they don’t, it will just be me in the green room on the night,” Trudy said.

Michael’s sister Clara, who is nine, will be keeping an eager eye out for him on the telly at home in Newcastle West, alongside their grandparents Mike and Nora, aunt Miriam Garrihy, uncle Damien Garrihy and cousins, Fiona, Jane, Patrick and Clodagh.

In 2023, over 1.7m viewers tuned in to watch the festive antics of participants and host Patrick Kielty, who will be presenting his second Toy Show this time round, having replaced Ryan Tubridy in May last year.

The Late Late Toy Show had humble beginnings. It featured as a half-hour slot at the end of The Late Late Show in 1975, to provide gift ideas for parents as to what to buy their children.