Dublin radio presenters left speechless as Matt Damon phones their breakfast show

Two Irish breakfast show radio presenters thought they were being pranked when Hollywood star Matt Damon asked to appear as a guest on their show.
Hollywood superstar Matt DamonHollywood superstar Matt Damon
Hollywood superstar Matt Damon

Local radio station Spin 1038 had been appealing for weeks for the Jason Bourne star to call them after learning he was in quarantine in the affluent Dublin suburb of Dalkey.

Bit Nathan O’Reilly and co-host Graham O’Toole said it was never a serious request and were stunned when Damon’s assistant called this week to ask when he could go on air.

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Mr O’Reilly told the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme he and his co-host initially thought it was a prank.

“He said: ‘Guys, Matt has been listening to the show. He wants to come on.’

“I looked at Graham and said: ‘Are you pranking me?’ And then Graham thought I was pranking him.”

But when the Damon did indeed call in to their morning show, Mr O’Reilly realised it was no prank, and told the actor: “I feel like I’m about to throw up.”

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“I was just flinging words at Matt,” he said of his interviewing technique.

“I knew Matt Damon was in Dalkey, but I never expected we would get him on the show.”

He described the interview as “the classic tale of the tall man with the dream”.

During the interview the Hollywood star spoke of living in quarantine in Ireland.

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“It feels like a fairytale. When I first came in, people were saying, ‘Well, Bono lives over there, Enya lives over there’.”

“It’s been incredible. This is one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever been. Obviously what’s going on in the world is horrible, but I’ve got my whole family; I’m with my kids and we have teachers with us because we were planning on missing school for about eight weeks.

“We’ve got what nobody else has, which is live human beings teaching our kids, so we feel guilty. We’ve got this set-up in this incredible place. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Even in the 2km lockdown, we’ve got trees, and woods and ocean. I can’t think of any place you’d rather be in a 2km radius of.”

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