Stephen Colbert sees a silver lining following the cancellation of “The Late Show.”
The longtime host admitted in an interview with People magazine for its latest cover story published Tuesday that the decision may have “saved[his]life.”
“It takes a lot of bone marrow to put on a show every day. I’m going to step down now and have plenty of time and energy to do other things I want to do,” he said.
The comedian told the outlet that he’s ready to enjoy the empty nest stage of life. He and his wife of 32 years, Evelyn McGee Colbert, have three adult children: daughter Madeline and sons Peter and John.
With the late-night talk show’s final episode airing on May 21, Colbert said he will have more time to work on passion projects, such as writing the script for the new “Lord of the Rings” movie with his son Peter.
“To lose an argument with your adult child over something you thought you knew. If you can accept that, that’s pretty cool,” he exclaimed, calling this stage of fatherhood “the best.”
As for other projects he tackles in his free time, Colbert said, “I don’t have a better answer than my college seniors. It’s that I have to get this done first, because it takes almost my entire brain to do this show. So I’m going to land this plane and check out the view from there.”
Colbert, 62, was hired in 2015 to replace David Letterman, who retired after more than 20 years as host of CBS’s “The Late Show.”
Colbert, who is now worth a whopping $75 million and reportedly earns an annual salary of $15 million from his talk show, reflected on the early years of their marriage when he wasn’t sure he could sustain a comedy career.
“I thought, ‘Oh, wait, I know I want kids, but will this work? I’ll never be able to afford a house, a family, a car. Am I good enough to do this?'” he recalled.
Colbert revealed that when he was offered the job by Letterman to take over The Late Show, he underwent four months of therapy before taking the job.
He announced the cancellation of the long-running series after nearly 33 years in July 2025, telling viewers he learned of the decision the night before.
“I’m not going to be replaced,” Colbert declared. “This is all just going to go away.”
At the time, CBS claimed that canceling the series was a “purely financial decision” and had “nothing to do with the show’s performance, content, or any other issues going on at Paramount.”
Colbert teased that the final acknowledgment would be “something simple,” similar to his wish for how the show would be remembered by fans.
“I hope they’re laughing. I hope they feel better at the end of the day,” he said.
“I mean, that’s it. We’re there. We’re the last thing you see,” Colbert added. “There’s a lot that happens in a day, but we’re the last ones at bat, so we get that last take that people hear before they go to bed. We hope it made their day better.”
The final episode of “The Late Show” will air on May 21 at 11:35 pm ET on CBS.
