“The Late Late Show” host James Corden already announced in April that he’s leaving the show, but during a recent conversation with actress Drew Barrymore, the father of three explained his reasoning.
The 44-year-old comedian said that while he’s sad to go, ultimately, his decision came down to an interaction he had with his son Max. At the time, Corden was shooting the Amazon Prime Video series “Mammals” and had to go to work on a Sunday. Max’s reaction to his dad being away caused the host to rethink his priorities.
“I was filming on a Sunday and I came downstairs, it was about six a.m. and my son, who was ten at the time, was sat on the stairs and he said, ‘Are you working today?’ and I said, ‘I am,’” Corden recalled.
“He said, ‘I thought, well it’s Sunday,’ and I said, ‘I know buddy but this schedule’s just all over the place. We just got to get it done because we only have a tiny amount of time before we have to go back and do the show,’ and his face just kind of dropped,” he continued.
“I got in the car and I called my wife Jules and I said, ‘I’ve realized, best case scenario we have six more summers where Max is like, even remotely wants to be around us and I cannot waste another one,’” Corden said. “So, really the choice was to go, ‘Well if I really want to do this other work, that cannot be at the expense of our children, our family,’ and that is really all it comes down to.”
Corden admitted he’s disappointed to be leaving the show.
“Look it’s not easy in any way to walk away from something that is so … I mean I’ll never work in a better environment than the one I work in now,” Corden said.
“Nothing about leaving the show was to do with not enjoying it. I love it, but the truth is it became a very easy decision because I always knew it was an adventure and I never ever considered it to be the final destination,” he continued.
The British host anticipates that he’ll be emotional on his last day.
“I will be a mess on that last show,” Corden predicted. “I will cry my eyes out but I will know at my core that the best thing for me and the best thing for us as a family is to put down some roots in London, and it feels absolutely right in every single way.”