Roy Wood Jr. has weighed in on the future of The Daily Show following the news that it would soon be losing its host. Recently, Trevor Noah announced that he was stepping away from his hosting duties after a seven-year run. The South African comedian joined the show in 2015 when longtime host Jon Stewart made his own exit after a 16-year run.
“I realized that after that seven years, my time is up. But in the most beautiful way. Honestly,” Noah told viewers when he announced his Daily Show exit, having since lined up a new comedy special at Netflix. “I’ve loved hosting the show. It’s been one of my greatest challenges. It’s been one of my greatest joys. I have loved trying to figure out how to make people laugh, even when the stories are particularly shitty on the worst days. You know, we’ve laughed together, we’ve cried together. But after seven years, I feel like it’s time.”
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Noah leaves The Daily Show in December before taking a hiatus. The series will then return in 2023 with a new host that is yet to be named. There has been a lot of speculation over who could be succeeding Noah, and as a current correspondent, Wood’s name is one that has come up a lot. Speaking about the situation on The Daily Beast’s The Last Laugh podcast (per THR), Wood addressed if he’d be up for taking the job himself if he were asked.
“You can’t say no to an opportunity like that. You can’t turn your nose up at it, at least. I think you have to sit and assess what you want to do creatively, and that’s something I haven’t thought about yet.”
Related: The Daily Show: What Does Trevor Noah’s Exit Mean for Late-Night TV?
Who Will Be the New Host of The Daily Show?
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An official announcement has not yet been made for the new host of The Daily Show. If it’s not Wood, the correspondent is not sure if he’d want to stick around with someone else new coming in to succeed Noah. Whether he stays if someone else gets the job will depend upon that person and if he sees himself working well with the host.
“It would depend on the host. It would depend on the creative direction of the show. What are you trying to do? How do I fit into that? And does that creative direction fit my comedic skill sets and give me an opportunity to show who I am?”
Wood also pointed out that Noah’s transition coming in was seen as a bit “tumultuous” at the time, as fans were not yet familiar with the comedian. It’s different with correspondents who already have a built-in relationship with the audience, and with this in mind, Comedy Central might want to look at who they’ve got on hand before peeking elsewhere. Meanwhile, former correspondent Samantha Bee has been having many fans suggest her name as well after the cancelation of her own series Full Frontal; Bee had originally left The Daily Show to pursue that series.
Noah’s final episode of The Daily Show will air on Dec. 8, 2022.
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