James Corden said he will be bowing out of his late-night CBS TV show next year, calling it a “good time to move on and see what else might be out there.”
Corden announced his decision during the taping of Thursday’s “The Late Late Show,” which he began hosting in 2015.
“When I started this journey, it was always going to be just that. It was going to be a journey, an adventure. I never saw it as my final destination, you know?” he said. “And I never want this show to overstay its welcome in any way. I always want to love making it.”
Corden, who didn’t offer details on what course his career might take next, said the late-night show “has changed my life. ... I am so proud of what we’ve achieved. It’s been beyond my wildest, wildest dreams.”
He’ll remain with the show for another year, he said, promising that it will “go out with a bang” and, he predicted, with “so many tears.”
In a statement, CBS President and CEO George Cheeks lauded Corden for taking “huge creative and comedic swings,” including the “Carpool Karaoke” videos in which Corden and pop stars including Adele and Paul McCartney performed sing-alongs on the road.
Corden’s contract was to expire this August, but the London-born actor and writer extended the agreement for another season. He will leave the show that airs weeknights at 12:37 a.m. Eastern in spring 2023.
“We wish he could stay longer, but we are very proud he made CBS his American home and that this partnership will extend one more season on ‘The Late Late Show,’” Cheeks said.
The network had no further comment, including on who might replace Corden. The show’s previous host was Craig Ferguson.
Corden was considered an unlikely pick when he was named host of “The Late Late Show.” He’d starred in the British sitcom “Gavin & Stacey” and was a Tony Award winner in 2012 for his Broadway performance in “One Man, Two Guvnors,” but wasn’t widely known by U.S. viewers.
“Carpool Karaoke” and other comedy segments including “Crosswalk the Musical” proved popular online, building Corden and the show’s reach beyond its broadcast home.
He has foreshadowed his decision, including in a December 2020 podcast episode of “Smartless.” Corden said he had “an overwhelming feeling that my family has walked to the beat of my drum for a very long time.”
Corden said he didn’t have an end date for the show in mind and that it would “always be a bigger family decision than a professional one. It will be about people who we miss very very much who we are homesick for.”
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