Late Late Show host, Patrick Kielty. Picture: Andres Poveda Patrick Kielty has revealed he thought he had given Pope Francis shingles after meeting him at the Vatican over the summer.
The Late Late Show host travelled to the Vatican in June and was among an audience of 100 international comedians and artists who met the Pope. The Co. Down man described meeting the Pontiff as “surreal”.
“That was sort of like a weird fever dream, if I’m being honest with you,” he said. “There’s a point when that call came in and as a comedian, you’re always reasonably sort of… is this for real? I thought it was a joke.
“It was very weird. Then you see (actor) Ardal (O’Hanlon) is there and like everybody else, you’re going, right Father Ted.
“So just when you’re thinking Fr Dougal’s going to meet the Pope then Whoopi Goldberg arrives in a car, who was by far the most popular person in the Vatican that day. Sister Act, apparently, at the Vatican.”
Kielty said that during his trip to Rome, part of his face had swollen up, which he had blamed on DIY work he had carried out at home.
“The week beforehand, we were doing up a house, and I was lifting loft insulation and I thought I actually got loft insulation in my face. (My face) had all swollen up,” he added.
“When meeting the Pope, I took off my sunglasses and could sort of see him physically recoiling, ‘what’s going on with this fella’?
“It was only afterwards that I actually found out I had shingles. So there was a chance that I had given the Pope shingles, but I was never so glad to actually see him the week after in full health, giving the blessings. It was a surreal experience.”