Kevin Pereira Leaves 'Attack of the Show!' With an Epic Send-Off

Kevin Pereira wrapped up his run as the host of Attack of the Show! on Wednesday, ending his second stint as host of the G4 TV internet culture variety show. Pereira hosted AOTS! from 2005–2012 and returned to show when G4 was revived in 2021. Pereira has long made clear his run on the rebooted AOTS! was only temporary, as he wanted to get things started and get the new generation of G4 talents ready the carry the mantle. However, he surprised fans during the Wednesday broadcast by revealing they were actually watching his final broadcast as a full-time G4 personality.

The episode what Game of Thrones-themed, with the various AOTS! co-hosts — Austin Creed, Kassem G, Will Neff, Fiona Nova and Gina Darling — playing pickleball (Pereira's favorite sport) for the right to be the eventual next host of the show. After the tournament, Creed — who wrestles in WWE as Xavier Woods— was declared the winner. In the episode's "Cooldown" segment, Pereira spilled that Creed's reign would begin now, and he was bowing out. 

thank you @Attack pic.twitter.com/iRF9DKmzDz

— G4 (@G4TV) September 22, 2022

"I am so beyond excited to see what insanity everybody else here comes up with," Pereira, who's also known for TruTV's Hack My Life, said. His G4 peers each shared a touching tribute to him, thanking him for all the lessons he'd taught them, going all back to the pre-launch B4 G4 and G4 Beach House streams.

"I want to thank you for being our lighthouse, our beacon, leading us people that come from all different parts of the internet, and coming together and showing us how it's done," Kassem G said. "No one does it like KP; no one will ever do it like KP. We are so grateful to have a front-row view of how to host a show. And going forward, we'll all be better for having this close of a seat."

Pereira's departure came amidst turmoil at G4, but his exit was not caused by said turmoil. On Sept. 14, G4 laid off numerous behind-the-scenes employees, with the AOTS! team said to be hit particularly hard. The AOTS! crew canceled that day's show as a result. On Wednesday, Xplay host Indiana Black, a.k.a. Frosk, suddenly departed the network. This combination of events, paired with Pereira's exit, sent many G4 fans into a doom-spiral (that was made worse by the fleet of outrage YouTubers celebrating the network's setbacks). However, Pereira ensured fans that his exit — while ill-timed — was planned months in advance and G4 is still carrying on.

"Me departing Attack of the Show!: planned months ago. (I) did not know that planning would land in the middle of the unfortunate hurricane that is happening at that place, but I think the winds have settled, and so have the seas," Pereira clarified on his Thursday Twitch stream. "As I said last night on the show, I'm beyond excited to see what they do with that show, and I think it's an amazing place with some awesome talent, and more than capable producers, and obviously, an audience that gets what they're doing and supports them, which I can't thank you enough for, when I was there doing that so long ago. But I know that they feel similarly.

"So this just landed at an inopportune time. Admittedly, there was going to be more communication about it, it wasn't just gonna be the BAND-AID rip, but the events of everything sort of got in the way of that. (I) had to spin some other plates before worrying about the shattered China at the feet that would be my 'seemingly radical' departure. This was planned."

Pereira has kept the door open for future cameos on G4, and he even popped up on Thursday's episode of The Feedback, the AOTS! spinoff focused on daily news stories. G4's content premieres live on YouTube and Twitch, with VODs also made available after the fact. The channel is also available via cable and livestream services like Pluto TV.