Ryan Tubridy fans in overdrive as he starts 'new series' and is pictured with Piers Morgan

Fans of Ryan Tubridy have been sent into overdrive as the former RTE presenter started a 'new series' on Instagram.

Tubridy, who will not return to RTE after the recent payments scandal, has taken to social media with a new endeavour and it's already going down well with fans.

The former Late Late and RTE Radio 1 host has always been a noted lover of books and often gave recommendations on his much-loved morning radio show. 

He has turned that love into a new series of videos on his Instagram account where he gives book recommendations by genre. 

The first video, in what Ryan says will be a series, focused on crime novels. Ryan recommended Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent; The Lock-Up by John Banville; Don't Look Back by Jo Spain; The Convictions of John Dillahunt by Andrew Hughes; Trust by Hernan Diaz; Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor; and Reykjavík by Ragnar Jónasson and Katrín Jakobsdottír.

Ryan also shared clips of his recent trip to London with fans, including a trip to Daunt Books, one of his favourite book shops. He also stopped off at the Shake Shack in Covent Garden.

It appears Ryan met with controversial British broadcaster Piers Morgan while across the Irish Sea. The Talk TV star and former Sun editor posted a photograph of the pair on his X account on Tuesday with an intriguing caption.

The sacked presenter club! Great to see Ireland’s biggest TV star Ryan Tubridy in London today, and excited to see what he does next. RTE’s loss will definitely be someone else’s gain… pic.twitter.com/wtWW1FlwDu

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 5, 2023

Morgan wrote: "The sacked presenter club! Great to see Ireland’s biggest TV star Ryan Tubridy in London today, and excited to see what he does next. RTE’s loss will definitely be someone else’s gain…"

Despite being embroiled in controversy in recent months amid the RTE payments scandal, Tubridy has cleared retained plenty of supporters and they came out in force to support his new book recommendation series on Instagram.

One of the authors he mentioned, Liz Nugent, said: "Ryan! Thanks a million! And I heartily agree with your other recommendations too. Really missing you from the airwaves, and judging by the vast majority of these comments,I’m not alone! A friend commented recently that her father died around the time you went off the air and she’s not sure who her mother misses most."

Another fan commented: "Hi Ryan, it is lovely to see you on here again today. Ryan, the last video you put up here re the leaving cert kids got 51,768 likes in just hours after you put it up and a further 3,422 lovely comments also. It would seem obvious to all that RTE have made a massive error in letting you slip through their fingers but we all knew that, now they do too. Keep being wonderful you."

A third added: "I really miss that voice in the morning, I've nobody to listen to now, once Morning Ireland is over, that's it for me. Nothing against the newbies but they are not Ryan. Funny how life changes so quickly."

The first video recommendations posted by Tubridy has already amassed 17,000 likes and close to 1,000 comments, the majority positive.