"Nobody thinks you would ever leave": James Corden explains why people think he was fired from the Late Late Show

James Corden, the English actor and comedian, recently opened up about how he has been settling into life in London after the end of his long-running CBS program The Late Late Show in April 2023. He also revealed that people in the UK believe he was fired from the show.

On Tuesday, April 2, 2024, the 45-year-old made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! When the pair started to speak about his transition after moving back from Los Angeles to London and how people treated him, Corden recalled a scenario in a pub where fans asked him why he moved back. He said he told them it was so that his children have a good relationship with their grandparents.

Recalling the reaction to that, he noted:

"And people will honestly be like, ‘You don’t have to give me that bullsh*t. It’s fine, mate. If you got fired, you got fired. Because nobody thinks you would ever leave what is — let’s be honest — a cushy existence."

James has three kids with his wife Julia Carey - daughters Charlotte (6) and Carey (9) and son, Max (11).

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James Corden clarifies he "wasn’t fired" from The Late Late Show

During his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday, James Corden admitted that it has been an “adjustment” in the year since he departed from Los Angeles and stopped hosting The Late Late Show.

The actor hosted the show from 2015 to 2023 and moved to London after the talk show ended.

Kimmel and Corden talked about how the latter's current life in the UK has been since walking away from hosting duties. James Corden said that the experience of being applauded every day on the show is in contrast with how people treat him now. He added:

"You don’t understand how institutionalized you are. It’s extraordinary. But it’s like, you’re institutionalized in a world where you get a standing ovation at the end of every day. And that is — what I’ve realized — is it’s really bad for you."

When Kimmel asked Corden how he has been received since his return to his native U.K., the latter joked that while “people are very nice,” they don’t believe he simply chose to leave the show on his own terms. He explained:

"No one believes that I wasn’t fired. I’ll be in a pub or something and people will be like, oh yeah…. They’ll be like, ‘So why’d you come back?’ and I’ll be like, ‘Oh, 'cause Max has finished 6th grade and we really wanted him to have a relationship with his grandparents."

James Corden also reflected on why people thought that he was fired, telling Kimmel that usually people would not leave the "cushy existence." The host then quipped that the Mammals actor should get a letter from CBS officially stating that he was not, in fact, fired.

In response, Corden stated:

"I would, except they don’t know what CBS is. So they’ll go, ‘Well, that’s not a real thing.’ And then I have to tell them what the show was, and they’ll go, ‘Hang on, it was on at 12:30 at night? That’s a ridiculous time to put a TV show on.’"

The actor announced that he was moving on from The Late Late Show back in April 2022. The CBS team noted that the 2023 season of the show would be Corden’s last run as the host. Announcing his departure, Corden said:

"It’s been it’s a really hard decision to leave because I’m so immensely proud of the show … I always thought I’d do it for five years and then leave and then I stayed on. I’ve really been thinking about it for a long time, thinking whether there might be one more adventure."

The comedian has since begun working on a new project, a radio show on SiriusXM, titled This Life of Mine with James Corden.