Why James Corden Left ‘The Late Late Show’

James Corden’s The Late Late Show took its final bow in April. During an interview on The Drew Barrymore Show, the comedian explained why he decided to leave the series, per Entertainment Tonight. According to Corden, there’s a reason why it was a “very easy decision” to leave the late-night program. 

Corden began by saying that he has enjoyed his time on The Late Late Show and that the show itself didn’t affect his decision. He explained, “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. Nothing about leaving the show was to do with not enjoying it. I love it.” However, when Corden thought about his future, he knew that leaving the program was the right thing to do. 

“But the truth is it became a very easy decision,” he continued, “because I always knew it was an adventure and I never, ever considered it to be the final destination.” Corden went on to explain that his decision to leave was made even easier after filming his Prime Video drama Mammals. As he told Barrymore, working on the late-night show and all of his other projects has prevented him from spending more time with his family. He shares three children — Max, Carey, and Charlotte — with his wife, Julia Carey. So, it made perfect sense to step back from The Late Late Show to spend more time with his loved ones. 

Corden recalled, “One day I was filming on a Sunday and I came downstairs, it was about 6 a.m. and my son, who was 10 at the time, was sat on the stairs and he said, ‘Are you working today?’ and I said, ‘I am,’ and 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 added, “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 even remotely wants to be around us and I cannot waste another one.’” The talk show host realized that if he wants to continue working on these outside projects, he would need to step back from another, The Late Late Show. He explained that working “cannot be at the expense of our children, our family… that is really all it comes down to.”