Craig Ferguson Steps Down from ‘Late Late Show’
Craig Ferguson will step down as host of The Late Late Show at the end of the year, the comedian announced Monday night. “Thanks everybody, that was quite convincing!” he cracked to his audience, who let out a disappointed “Awww” upon hearing the news. “I feel like doing this show for 10 years, that’s enough,” he added. You can check out a clip of Ferguson’s announcement below, or watch the whole thing over on The Late Late Show‘s website.
Craig Ferguson and 11 Other Actors Who Became TV Hosts
Ferguson had considered leaving the show two years ago, later joking that CBS wooed him back with “all the trappings of late night television” including “a fancy new studio and a podium for your gay robot skeleton and a stable for your horse and an invisible band behind a curtain.” While he did stick around, the comedian said that he’s now ready to move on to something new — he’s thinking maybe carpentry. Jokes aside, as E! reports, Ferguson is slated to host Celebrity Name Game, a new syndicated game show starting this fall; he’s also developing other TV projects through his Green Mountain West production company.
Ferguson also emphasized that the decision was his alone, thanking CBS and fans for their support and diffusing any rumors that he was being run out by the network or a third party, à la the Jay Leno/Conan O’Brien kerfuffle a few years back.
The decision, however, does come on the heels of David Letterman’s retirement from The Late Show and the news that Stephen Colbert would take over that show in 2015. You can check out Colbert’s recent appearance on The Late Show where he and Letterman joked about the upcoming swap. “They hired a boob like me,” Colbert joked. “Every boob is like a snowflake, Dave. We’re all unique in our own way.”