James Corden has reflected on filming his last ever episode of The Late, Late Show.
In December 2022, the Gavin & Stacey creator announced he’d be stepping down as host of the US talk show after eight years, and relocating back to the UK with his family.
He completed filming on his last episode on Wednesday, and after leaving the set, spoke briefly to Zoe Ball on the Radio 2 breakfast show about how it all went down.
Speaking in a hushed voice so as not to wake his family (he was still in LA at the time of the conversation), James compared his last day of filming to the taping of the Gavin & Stacey finale.
“I can remember when we did the last episode of season three of Gavin & Stacey and I can remember sitting with Ruth Jones and crying,” he recalled.
“But, obviously, those shows we would shoot in blocks and then you would go off and do other things, and then you would come back and shoot again, whereas this has been a pretty constant eight years.
“Tomorrow is going to be our 1,200th show, which is, let’s be honest, it’s too much. It’s crazy but I feel good about it. I just know in my core that it’s the right thing to do for so many personal and professional reasons.”
Teasing that he was going out “with a bang”, James continued: “The last few shows we have done have been brilliant, the atmosphere in the studio is great.
“We have had some really big guests come down and do stuff, and tomorrow’s show is going to be great.”
“I just want to cherish it and not spend the whole day crying – [I want to] spend the whole day just feeling pride and gratitude and joy about it all really.”
He added: “I don’t look like I should be hosting an American late night talk show. I’m from High Wycombe. This isn’t a road that’s often travelled.”
Having now been recorded James’ final instalment of The Late, Late Show will air on US television station CBS on Thursday night.
The episode will also include James’ last ever Carpool Karaoke, which was recorded as a surprise for the presenter by his close pal Adele, and released online earlier this week.