Roy Wood Jr. explains why he quit“ The Daily Show”: 'It's nothing personal'
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Roy Wood Jr. is leaving the door open for a return to The Daily Show as host after quitting as correspondent — but he's not waiting around for that to happen.
Almost two weeks after announcing that he is departing the late-night show after eight years because he had not been hired as its permanent host, Wood went on Sherri Shepherd's daytime talk show Sherri on Monday to explain why he decided to leave.
"It still could happen," Wood says in a clip of his potential return as host. "I just don't want to do work in the meantime … I was shocked at the decision myself because No. 1, we were in a strike. Who do you know come off [a] strike and then quit the job? ... That wasn't the plan."
Comedy Central
Wood went on to explain how he respects what is sure to be a "long process" of finding Trevor Noah's permanent replacement as host.
"But while you got your process, I need to have my process," he says. "So I'm going to be over here making sure all my ducks are in a row as well, in case that doesn't end up the way that I hope. And the job of correspondent … it's not easy. It's not like hard labor but it is a mentally stressful job, so I want to make sure that I remove the stress from my space so I have space to figure out what's next for myself in case I'm not in that chair come January. So I had to leave. I'm sorry … that's just what it is and it's nothing personal. This is the first job I ever quit where I got to clean out my office."
Walking away from The Daily Show after eight years feels like a breakup to Wood. "It's like, 'Hey, do you want to get married?' and then Comedy Central is like, 'We gonna date around,'" he says. "Then you go ahead and date around and I'm gonna be over here getting myself together for whoever wants to be with me when the time comes. That's really what it was. Like I understand it. I gotta give a shout out to the homie, Trevor Noah, for giving me the opportunity to be there eight years."
In a statement to EW, a spokesperson for The Daily Show previously said, "Roy Wood Jr. is a comedic genius and beloved teammate. His insights and hilarity helped us make sense of the 2016 election, the pandemic, and countless hours of Fox News. We thank him for his time with us and can't wait to see what he does next."
The Daily Show has remained without a permanent host since Noah left in January, with several guests filling in for the remainder of its most recent season, including Leslie Jones, Chelsea Handler, John Leguizamo, and Wood. The series is set to return with a fresh lineup of guest hosts on Monday and plans to crown a new emcee in 2024.
Watch the clip below.
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