He’s set to bid farewell to The Late Late Show after dramatically revealing last year that he was stepping down after eight years at the helm.
And as he prepares to film the emotional final ever episode of his show, James Corden admitted that he’d never ‘felt like this before’ as he revealed the real reason he was quitting the show that catapulted him to international fame.
The actor and presenter, 44, joined Zoe Ball on Radio 2 on the eve of the last show where he opened up on how he was feeling about wrapping on the programme that’s been a huge part of his life for so many years.
He explained: ‘It’s a strange one, I haven’t really felt like this before. I remember when we did last episode of Gavin and Stacey, I remember sitting with Ruth jones and crying, but that was done in blocks, we’d film it, go off and then come again.
‘But the Late Late show has been a pretty consistent, it’s been 8 years, tomorrow will be 100th show – crazy!’
Leaving it behind: James Corden prepares for an emotional departure from The Late Late Show as he reveals the real reason he’s bowing out
Emotional; The actor and presenter, 44, joined Zoe Ball on Radio 2 on the eve of the last show where he opened up on how he was feeling about wrapping on the programme that’s been a huge part of his life for so many years
The TV personality went on to share the pivotal catalyst behind his decision to leave before admitting that he didn’t want to spend the day sobbing about the end but to instead take the time to ‘cherish’ the journey he’d been on.
He said: ‘I feel good about it, I know in my core its right thing to do for so many personal and professional reasons.
‘We’re gonna go out with a bang, there’s been a great atmosphere on set, tomorrow is gonna be great. I wanna cherish it and not spend the whole day crying, I wanna feel the pride and gratitude for it all.’
Reflecting on the great success of his show, James added to Zoe: ‘It’s been extraordinary the response to the show; online, internationally. I wasn’t always certain it was gonna work.
‘I don’t look like I should host an American late night talk show, I’m from High Wycombe! It’s a road less travelled. It’s been a glorious ride.’
Fans were recently treated to a clip of James final ever Carpool Karaoke with his close pal Adele, whom James had no idea was taking part.
Sharing his joy and gratitude that the Hello singer filmed this with him, he shared: ‘We have the show with Adele’s carpool, which is a carpool that I didn’t know would happen. I watched it and it felt so lovely, I can’t believe she did that for us.
‘It’s crazy because we’ve known each other so long, we moved here [to LA] 5 days apart, our families are intertwined. I can’t believe she did it, I can’t believe she showed up for us.’
Reflection: The TV personality went on to share the pivotal catalyst behind his decision to leave before admitting that he didn’t want to spend the day sobbing about the end but to instead take the time to ‘cherish’ the journey he’d been on
Grateful: ‘I wanna cherish it and not spend the whole day crying, I wanna feel the pride and gratitude for it all’
BFFs: ‘We have the show with Adele’s carpool, which is a carpool that I didn’t know would happen. I watched it and it felt so lovely, I can’t believe she did that for us’
It comes after James dished the dirt on returning to his home turf this week as he prepares to step away from the US – admitting that it’s a ‘very strange’ feeling.
The actor will be spending time more time with his family, but has admitted that stepping down leaves him in unknown territory.
He admitted to The Sun: ‘Right now, there are a lot of unknowns. It just feels very strange — knowing everything is going to change but trying to hang on to the fact that change is fundamentally a good thing.’
While James also shared his hopes that he hasn’t taken his wildly successful stint on the late night chat show ‘for granted’.
Reflecting on the last nine seasons on the show, James described it as an ‘incredible run’ while sharing his pride over not just the show – but all of his career milestones.
Unsure what the future holds, he explained: ‘I think I have to spend a little bit of time letting this all go. It has been a noisy eight years, and right now I am going to try and focus on having a little bit of silence.’
The Late Late Show, which films out of Los Angeles, first premiered in 1995 with host Tom Snyder. Craig Kilborn and Craig Ferguson followed as host until James Corden came along in 2015.
Corden promised to ‘go out with a bang’ as he informed audiences of his decision to step down as the host of The Late Late Show.
Revealing the news during the latest episode of the US talk show he said the show had ‘changed my life’ and promised there would be ‘lots of tears’ when his tenure came to an end.
‘Seven and half years ago I started hosting this show and there’s no other way to put it, it has changed my life,’ he said.
‘It feels very strange’: James dished the dirt on returning to the UK as he prepares to step down from the Late Late Show hosting gig… admitting he ‘doesn’t know’ what’s to come next
Proud: Reflecting on the last nine seasons on the show, James described it as an ‘incredible run’ while sharing his pride over not just the show – but all of his career milestones
‘I never saw as it as my final destination, and I never want this show to overstay its welcome, I love making it and I really think in a year from now that will be a good time to move on and see what’s out there.’
He added: ‘We are all determined to make this the best year we have ever had…we are going to go out with a bang.
‘The fact that you watch this…all over the world…is an absolute privilege for me and every single person who makes this show.’
The last Last Late Late Show will air Thursday April 27 at 10pm, before the final episode of The Late Late Show with James Corden airs at 12:37am ET/PT.
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