The Late Late Show returns this Friday

The kids are going back to school, Electric Picnic is almost here, and The Late Late Show is back this Friday night - it's safe to say, summer is over. Let's not pretend there's not a small part of us looking forward to the routine of it all again though, and in case you're not, well you've got a decent enough Late Late Show lineup to get you through.

First up, there will be some genuine honest-to-God Hollywood stars on the show, and from our own shores too. Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan both paid Ryan a visit on Wednesday evening for what was a pre-recorded interview that will go out on Friday night's show. This writer was actually lucky enough to have a seat in the audience, but I won't ruin it other than to say the lads are just lovely, so they are. The pair were chatting about their new World War II movie Anthropoid, as well as their popular TV shows Peaky Blinders and The Fall, while there was of course mention of Jamie Dornan's role in the 50 Shades movies, which he has just finished filming.

Jamie also talked about how his new-found fame hasn't changed him;

"The fame aspect that comes with being a working actor does not intrigue me in the slightest," he tells Tubridy, "I think something like being Irish helps, and my friends. There’s just no allowance for it... In your life, no matter what happens or how much notoriety you gain through your work, the fundamentals of your life don’t change. I hope not. Your wife, your kids, your family and your friends, all that stuff, the stuff that makes you, doesn’t change. On nights like this when you go to a premiere and it all seems crazy, it’s all very heightened but every day is totally normal. It’s just a job, you go to work and do your job and then that’s it."

Besides all that excitement though, Ryan will also honour some of our Olympic champs we became so taken with the last few weeks. That does of course meanCork's O'Donovan brothers will be in to chat to Ryan about their silver medal success in Rio and they're glittering homecoming to Skibbereen earlier this week.

Fellow silver medalist Annalise Murphy will also be talking about her success in Rio, while Ryan will also chat to boxer Michael Conlon, who became part of one of the biggest upsets in Ireland’s Olympic history when he failed to qualify for a medal in a fight he (and many others) felt that he clearly won.

However, as we all know, the Olympics was marred in controversy for Ireland pretty early on. Ryan talks to Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross who found himself in the eye of the storm when he travelled to Rio after news broke of the ticket touting scandal. Minister Ross will give viewers his unique insight into what went down in Brazil, the questions that need to be answered and how he’s going about getting those answers.

The Late Late Show returns this Friday on RTE1 at 9.35pm.

*Update: There they are now...