Kildare man Ray: 'Most of the criticism of new show wasn't justified at all...'

RTE star Ray D'Arcy has admitted he expected "too much" of himself with the first run of his Saturday night chat show.

And as he gears up for a second season kicking off this weekend, the Kildare Town native said he is over the criticism he has faced.

The Ray D'Arcy Show hit the Saturday night TV screens last year but it produced some cringeworthy moments such as when a Jack Nicholson lookalike appeared and the host's "sexist" interview with ex Baywatch star Pamela Anderson.

The former Today FM star (52)said: "I think I expected too much of myself and I think others expected a lot of me too - and when there are high expectations people can get angsty."

Ray, who is married to his radio producer Jenny Kelly, noted a lot of the reviews were "quite negative".

"If you're explaining, you're losing - you can't say, 'it's our first year, we're all new to this, it's a work in progress'. That's not good enough, really.

"And I think we were better than that and the figures were good.

"But I suppose people need something to criticise and last year I was getting a good bit of it. Some of it was justified, most of it wasn't at all. But I'm over it, I'm tough-skinned."

Ray, who also presents a weekday afternoon Radio 1 show, said he is finally settling into his new roles at RTE.

He told TV Now magazine: "We're here for more than 18 months and we're still getting used to it.

"I suppose people thought because I had a successful radio programme I was just going to slot in but that's just not the way it happens. But I'm getting more comfortable by the day."