James Corden opens up on leaving late-night TV

James Corden says life after Late Night is an exercise in ‘pride swallowing’.

Nine months after his departure from late-night TV, the comedian opened up to Jimmy Fallon about the ‘overwhelming’ reality of life away from hosting.

Appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, James appeared humbled by the adjustment, admitting, “I have really not been doing anything”.

“It’s overwhelming,” the ex-host of The Late, Late Show said. “It’s an up-at-dawn, pride-swallowing siege.”

James added he’d experienced “the darkest moment” of his life since quitting TV, before revealing he was actually talking about taking his three children to a water park.

“You know what it's like when you're at Disney World,” he said.

“Now imagine everyone is in their underwear. Yeah. And everyone's peeing, all the time… people are having conversations, just peeing.”

James described three key aspects he most missed about starring on his own show: being part of a “gang”, the excitement of putting on a show every day – and having a pre-prepared excuse for getting out of social engagements.

“The thing I miss more than anything, which I didn’t realise at the time and only realise now, is you’ve got a ready-made, built-in excuse to get out of anything you don’t want to do,” James explained.

“You just say to people, ‘I can’t, I’ve got a show’ … Everyone believes you.”