Broadcasting career
Kelly's broadcasting career began at Ulster Television as a part-time GAA reporter, but left the station quickly after being blacklisted by the National Union of Journalists. [3] Following a year's work experience at the Down Recorder , he returned to UTV in 1979 as a reporter, and later presenter, of its evening magazine programme, Good Evening Ulster,. [2]
Kelly also presented the series Lifestyle, Kelly's People, Kelly on Tour, Kelly on the Road, [2] What Next?, [4] Get It Right Next Time [5] and Pick of the Six for Ulster Television. [6] He also presented a radio show called Kelly on the Radio on Downtown Radio.
In September 1989, he began presenting the popular talk and variety show, Kelly , which aired for 571 episodes. Famous guests included a 9-year-old Rory McIlroy who appeared on the show in 1999 after he had won the world under 10s championship and George Best (who appeared in a special edition in 2000, which was the highest-rated edition at 367,000 viewers). [7]
In May 1999, there was speculation that Kelly was one of the few names who were tipped to succeed Gay Byrne as the host of The Late Late Show that aired on RTÉ One in the Republic of Ireland. However, Kelly did not get the position which went to Pat Kenny. [8]
In September 2005, UTV announced that Kelly would end. Kelly said that UTV were unhappy with the show airing in the 9pm slot, as UTV had to opt out of ITV's network schedule. Instead of moving the show to a new different timeslot, UTV took the decision to axe it completely. The final episode of Kelly aired on the 16 December 2005. [9] [10] [11]
After the cancellation of Kelly in 2005, a new series, Gerry Meets... was launched in March 2006. [12] The series concentrated on one-to-one interviews with guests. [13] One 2006 episode, during which Kelly interviewed the DJ Jimmy Savile, received widespread coverage in the national press six years later after the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal first broke. Particular attention was paid to comments Savile made to Kelly that were interpreted as clues to Savile's history as a predatory sex offender. [14] [15] [16] [17]
In January 2008, it was reported that Kelly had left UTV. In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph , Kelly said, "I'm leaving UTV on amicable terms and I have nothing but the highest regard for them. As far as I'm concerned, they gave me one of the best jobs in the world and I'm grateful to them for that." [18]
In March 2009, it was announced that Kelly would be joining BBC Radio Ulster to present a Saturday afternoon programme, commencing in April. [19] Kelly replaced the Alan Simpson show on BBC Radio Ulster he is on air from 15:00 - 17:00 on Friday Afternoons.
In November 2023, it was announced that Kelly would become the presenter of a new series, Conversations with Gerry Kelly. Kelly clarified that the show would not be a rival series to RTÉ's The Late Late Show as it was thought that both shows could inevitably be broadcast around the same time. [20] In January 2024, it was announced that Kelly's new ten-part series will be broadcast on Monday nights from 29 January 2024 on Belfast-based television channel NVTV. [21]
