Three years after he signed off CBS’ “The Late Late Show,” James Corden is having the time of his life hosting the World Cup after show for Fox, “After Hours With James Corden.” On the most recent episode of “Each day Variety” podcast, the multihyphenate discusses the enjoyment of indulging in his lifelong love of football and why the decision from Fox Sports was the one hosting gig that he’s been offered lately that he couldn’t turn down.
“After Hours” debuted on the primary day of the tournament, June 11, and is airing nightly at 11 p.m. through the ultimate game on July 19. Corden’s set is correct next to the studio for Fox Sports’ World Cup anchor team including Rebecca Lowe, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimović.
The “After Hours” set is decorated like a clubhouse, with all manner of soccer memorabilia — photos of star players past and present, balls, cleats, flags, pennants and naturally, the numerous scarfs that fans don to indicate their loyalty to favorite clubs. One other eye-catching element is the life size wax figure of soccer great Pelé that’s on loan from Madame Tussauds in London.
For Corden, the chance to get the “Late Late Show” team back together for a finite task revolving around a subject that he knows well was inconceivable to show down, once he gave it some thought. He’s working with “Late Late Show” executive producer Ben Winston and former head author Ian Karmel, who mixes it up at a giant table with Corden and British soccer great Rio Ferdinand.
“I didn’t realize how much I’d missed producing an hour of live television each day,” Winston told Variety.
Corden notes that he and Winston produced the same after show for the U.K.’s ITV through the 2010 World Cup. The offer from Rob Wade, Fox Entertainment CEO, got here to him greater than a 12 months ago. He’s been offered all manner of hosting gigs since bowing out of “Late Late Show” that were of no interest to him. But the prospect to weigh in nightly on a World Cup tournament within the U.S. — that was special.
“I wasn’t completely convinced and on the hook, if I’m honest. I actually wasn’t in a rush to host anything. I actually felt like hosting shows was something I’d probably said goodbye to when I finished ‘The Late Late Show,’ ” Corden told Variety. “After which the more I thought of it and the more I believed, ‘Man, the wonderful thing about that is it’s so definite in its time. It’s not such as you’re going to sit down and go, oh, we’re going to get picked up for a second season. How’s it doing? It’s about something very specific that I like. And the more I thought of it, I believed, you’re an idiot to even consider turning this down.”
WNBA star Sophie Cunningham jokes with Ian Karmel on the July 7 episode of Fox’s “After Hours With James Corden”
The timing was dictated by the tournament, after all, but it surely turned out that the celebs aligned for Corden to recruit the “Late Late Show” alumni that might allow him to work at a high level.
“The thing that’s made it really, really joyful is how many elderly faces are back just doing this for five weeks,” he said. “It’s been glorious.”
With the good thing about distance, Corden reflected on his decision to wrap up “Late Late Show” in April 2023 after eight years behind the desk. He’s happy with the show and its legacy. He has, after all, watched from afar within the U.K. all of the controversy and drama envelope his former CBS schedule mate, Stephen Colbert, whose show ended amid enormous pressure exerted against CBS by the Trump administration. And now ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel is within the crosshairs of Trump and the FCC.
Corden said he could feel a giant shift in landscape coming even in 2023. “Late Late Show” wrapped up barely one week before production shut down with the beginning of the writers strike on May 2, 2023.
“I remember once I when ‘The Late Late Show’ was wrapping up, we had about per week to go and really kindly, we’d been invited to speak on the Paleyfest concerning the show. And I used to be stood backstage with David Staff, who runs CBS Studios, a beautiful man who I just love and adore, and I consider him a friend still and at all times will. And we stood backstage and there was this clip reel running on the screen. And, and he said, ‘It’s so sad, isn’t it?’ And I said, ‘I don’t think it is unhappy, actually.’ I said, ‘If I’d signed that contract that you simply offered me,’ which took loads of willpower to walk away from, you’d have come to me and said, ‘We want to chop $10 million from this budget,’ ” Corden recalled.
“And as soon as you could cut $10 million from a budget, the one way you do this is by making your team smaller. And as soon as you make your team smaller, you modify the complete environment of the team which are making that show. And I said, ‘I don’t think it’s sad in any respect.’ And he went ‘Two years? It could have been in six weeks.’ That’s where it was at,” he said. “I feel just incredibly happy with what we did and of what we completed after we did it.”
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