James Corden shares story about his son that led him to quit show

James Corden has hosted the Late Late Show in Los Angeles for eight years but is now returning to London after becoming a staple on CBS.

The TV host has now shared the moment when a sad interaction with his son made him realise he does not want to “waste” another summer away from his children while they are still young.

Corden instead said that it was “not easy in any way to walk away from” his talk show, but he decided he wanted to spend more time with family and “put down some roots in London”.

The Gavin and Stacey creator recounted: “When I was shooting the show Mammals two summers ago, one day, I was filming on a Sunday, and I came downstairs at about 6am 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, ‘But it’s Sunday’, and I said, ‘I know, buddy, but this schedule is so all over the place, we’ve just got to get it done because I only have a tiny amount of time before we have to go back and do the show’. And his face just kind of dropped.”

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Following the brief conversation, Corden called his wife, Julia Carey, and told her: “I’ve realised, best case scenario, we have six more summers where Max even remotely wants to be around us, and I cannot waste another one.”

Speaking with Drew Barrymore in a recent interview, Corden explained: “Really, the choice was to go, ‘If I want to do this other work, that cannot be at the expense of our children and our family’.

“And that is really all it comes down to. I will be a mess on that last show, I will cry my eyes out.

“But I will know in my core that the best thing for me and the best thing for us as a family is to put down some roots in London, and it feels absolutely right in every single way.”

Corden announced the news of his departure last year in a statement, in which he said: “It’s been a really hard decision to leave because I’m so immensely proud of the show.

“I’m thrilled to be extending [for a year]. 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,” he added to Deadline.

The star has subsequently shed further light on his decision to leave now, saying it was down to “putting down roots” in London with his family and said the move “feels absolutely right in every single way”.

He also said he wanted his children to have a “solid relationship” with their grandparents and admitted it was “time that you don’t really get back”.

Corden first launched his American talk show in 2015 with guests including Tom Hanks, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Billy Crystal, Chris Rock and Meryl Streep.