James Corden has marked the end of his Late Late Show alongside guests, including “special” friends Harry Styles and Will Ferrell, as he received a slew of goodbyes from other American late night hosts.
Corden announced a year ago that he would be ending his show after eight seasons, citing a desire to return to the UK to be closer to family and loved ones.
His parents were seated in the audience for the final show, and his sisters, he joked, were in town too — but at a bar instead.
Styles has been a frequent visitor to the show, and has even guest-hosted twice. He’s been game for a number of taped bits with Corden including the time the host directed a music video for Styles’ song Daylight for just $300 (£240).
“As a friend, I’m so incredibly proud of you,” Styles told Corden. “On a personal note, you’ve been a safe space to me always as a friend.”
He added that he was ‘”selfishly very excited that you’re coming home.” Styles, Corden and Ferrell then embraced in a group hug.
There were also goodbyes from the other late night hosts. Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and David Letterman all appeared in a pre-taped segment with Corden. They joked that since Corden was ending his show, they could each call dibs on one of his segments.
They all chose Carpool Karaoke, referencing Corden’s most popular sketch where he drives around Los Angeles with celebrities and sing songs. Paul McCartney, Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder and Chris Martin are a few of his Carpool Karaoke passengers.
Corden closed out the night by playing a piano and singing a song with the crew and staff gathered around the stage.
“Part of me thinks I should stay here forever but deep in my heart I just know,” Corden sang. “No more shows to be showing, it’s time I was going, It’s time. Thanks for watching, that’s our show.”
That's our show pic.twitter.com/lUL2OUXayB
— The Late Late Show with James Corden (@latelateshow) April 28, 2023
Ahead of the final episode airing, Corden said it had been a “surreal day”.
The British comedian was joined by Tom Cruise and Adele for an hour-long primetime special ahead of the main show on US network CBS.
The special opened with Corden on the roof of the CBS studios in Los Angeles singing an ode to the city, the show and its various segments, while flanked by disco dancers.
Corden joked that after the conclusion of the show, the set would be dismantled and placed in the Smithsonian museum in Washington DC.
He later thanked everyone involved in the production of The Late Late Show and looked back on highlights of the past eight years.
“This is a surreal day for all of us here, it’s crazy to me what we’ve done. We’ve done 1200 Late Late Show’s in the last eight years and we are reaching the end,” he said.
He then introduced a reel of clips, featuring a slew of celebrity guests who had been on the show and participated in some of its most memorable segments.
The first sketch of the special saw him challenge Hollywood star Cruise to participate in a stage performance of the Lion King, as payback for years of “life-threatening” scenarios.
Ladies and gentleman.... @tomcruise and James Corden performing "Hakuna Matata" as Timon and Pumba at an actual performance of @thelionking. pic.twitter.com/o6xNpS6HkV
— The Late Late Show with James Corden (@latelateshow) April 28, 2023
The pair later appeared onstage as Timon and Pumba to shrieks of delight from the unexpecting audience.
After a rendition of Can You Feel The Love Tonight, punctuated by clips of Cruise’s appearances on the show, the pair appeared on a helipad.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for my show,” Corden told him.
Imitating one of his famous lines from film Jerry Maguire, Cruise replied: “Shut up. You had me at hello.”
In the final Carpool Karaoke segment, previously released online, global megastar Adele returned to the car, this time “driving” Corden to work.
Adele arrived at Corden’s home, waking him up with cymbals, before starting the trip, during which they sang several of her hits and a musical number, and reminisced about the past eight years of his tenure on The Late Late Show.
