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Keelan Tiernan (10) and Dylan Bowe (10) from Dublin with Roy Keane at The Late Late Toy Show 2025. Andres Poveda
christmas is here
CMAT, Keano and tonnes of big feelings: The top moments from this year's Late Late Toy Show
Need to catch up? Here’s what happened on the biggest night in Irish TV.
LAST UPDATE | 6 Dec 2025
THIS YEAR’S LATE Late Toy Show kicked off with a bang as we were transported to Whoville.
Patrick Kielty zip lined into the studio as the The Grinch and joined the hundreds of children singing Christmas songs.
The night went on to feature CMAT, Roy Keane, Kingfishr and so many mentions of 6-7 that we lost count.
As always, it was the kids rather than the toys that stole the show. Here are some of the highlights if you missed it.
1. Dylan and Keelan
Dylan and Keelan stole the country’s hearts. After Keelan got a bit emotional due to being nervous, his best friend Dylan was there to support him.
A special surprise for the boys was a video from Lewis Capaldi, who lives with Tourettes, similarly to Keelan.
He invited his young fans to be his VIP guests when he comes to perform in Marlay Park next year.
The boys – who are huge football fans – also got a surprise appearance from Roy Keane who complimented them for “looking after each other, supporting each other.”
They also won a fabulous selection of toys for some other children in hospital across Ireland by smashing the Tower of Toys.
"I play midfield as well" 😭
— The Late Late Toy Show (@RTELateLateShow) December 5, 2025
What a surprise for Keeland and Dylan! It's only KEANO! pic.twitter.com/XUzHWo0Cd8
2. CMAT and the girls from Virgin Mary National School
We met the girls from Virgin Mary National School choir at the start of the Toy Show when they received the surprise announcement that they would get to perform live.
After being bussed over, the group arrived in the studio and performed Stay for Something by CMAT, which one of the children says is her favourite singer.
The Meath singer then appeared to screams from the Virgin Mary National School choir after coming straight from performing in the 3Arena.
She says she might cry and ruin her makeup, adding that the girls’ rendition of her song was “the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard in my life”.
CMAT HAS ARRIVED!! 😍🥰#LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/v3m6ThZkuY
— The Late Late Toy Show (@RTELateLateShow) December 6, 2025
3. Killeagh
The All Ireland All Stars came together to do a beautiful rendition of Killeagh by Kingfisher – Ireland’s top song on Spotify in 2025.
The song was kicked off by twin sisters Aoife and Tara McCarthy from Cork, huge fans of the GAA and their parish.
Making a lovely moment even lovelier, the Cork indie trio Kingfishr came out to help finish off the song.
“They gave us a run for our money,” the band said of the kids.
Killeagh surprise!! 😍🥺 Welcome to the Toy Show #Kingfishrband 🤩#LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/sO8AFWmqau
— The Late Late Toy Show (@RTELateLateShow) December 5, 2025
4. Declan and his pitch and potty
Six-year-old golf-fan Declan from Cork tested out a pitch and potty and gave Patrick a very kind gift of a … poo emoji toy.
“When you are having your Christmas poo, you can think of me,” he said.
Patrick must have really appreciated it as it resulted in the first celebrity guest of the night!
Shane Lowry recorded a special message for Declan, inviting him to spend the day with him at the Amgen Irish Open next year.
Declan’s only delighted with himself 🥹
— The Late Late Toy Show (@RTELateLateShow) December 5, 2025
Thanks @ShaneLowryGolf ❤️ #LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/8lMPb58f2M
5. Manchester’s newest mascot
Patrick, donning a Manchester United jersey, said he was about to do the scariest thing he can imagine: shake hands with a Liverpool fan.
The fan in question is Layla. After the quick handshake, the 11-year-old explains how she was nearly convinced to support the Red Devils by her dad when she was younger.
“I was like five, I was vulnerable,” she says, before adding that she got some common sense.
The super-fan went on to say her favourite Liverpool player was Conor Bradley, who soon made an appearance in video form.
The County Tyrone man invited the 11-year-old to come on a VIP trip to Anfield, and to walk out alongside him and the team as their mascot at the match on 1 January.
6. The county parade
As always the county parade was a hit.
There were kids on tractors, trikes, bikes, a JCB and even a Volkswagen ID Buzz.
We also saw Irish dancing, ballet dancing, cartwheeling, jiving, juggling and one child roller-skating while playing the tin whistle.
7. 6 – 7
The 6-7 meme probably deserves an honourable mention just for how many times it was mentioned in tonight’s show (we lost count).
6-7 even made into into the book review corner!
Reviewing the book Making It Up as You Go Along, Jake said: “I particularly enjoyed pages 6-7,” he says.
In one record breaking moment, we got to hear about 6-7 and Labubu dolls in one sentence.
Seven-year-old Shay Shay likes to drive toy his toy car up a ramp and over some Labubu dolls.
What’s his record for Labubu jumping? “Six seven,” he tells Kielty.
8. The first Toy Show with live audio description
Tom – who was dressed as the Grinch’s dog Max – reminded us that the Toy Show is available with Irish Sign Language worldwide on the RTÉ News channel and the RTÉ Player, with a live audio description for blind and visually impaired people.
The Late Late Show also ran its Toy Show Appeal this year.
The money from the charity appeal is used to support children’s charities and causes around the country.
Amazin’ 😉 #RTEToyShowAppeal
— The Late Late Toy Show (@RTELateLateShow) December 6, 2025
You can donate at https://t.co/nkBuuHZMbQ or with Revolut Pay.#LateLateToyShow pic.twitter.com/aiYHOAhIMP
According to CMAT, viewers have donated over €4,003,179 to this year’s charity appeal so far.
Patrick finished off the night by thanking the children and viewers with a classic Grinch quote.
“Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps, means a little bit more?” he said.
With additional reporting from Jane Moore
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