Don’t rule Roy Wood Jr. out to replace Trevor Noah as Daily Show host just yet. On Monday, the comedian told Sherri Shepherd that “it could still happen.”
During an interview on Shepherd’s daytime talk show, Sherri—his first TV appearance since announcing his departure from The Daily Show—Wood said that he shocked even himself by choosing to leave, especially during a strike. As he put it, “Who do you know come off strike and then quit the job?”
Although leaving wasn’t his plan, Wood continued, “As you start looking at the lay of the land of late night and television as a whole, that’s going to be a long process figuring out who is going to be in that chair.” While he respects that process, he added, “I need to have my process. So I’m going to be over here making sure all my ducks are in a row as well.”
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Wood first started on The Daily Show as a correspondent in 2015 and has steadily become a fan favorite. His guest-hosting spots, along with his successful gig as host of this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, have led fans to wonder why he hasn’t already been named to replace Noah behind the desk.
By eliminating the stress in his life, particularly the mental strain of working on the show as a correspondent, Wood told Shepherd that he hopes “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.”
In spite of fans’ enthusiasm for Wood, in August, Variety reported that Hasan Minhaj was a frontrunner for the gig. That reportedly changed, however, after a New Yorker exposé uncovered some glaring inaccuracies beneath the “emotional truths” in Minhaj’s comedy sets. Wood announced his departure from the show in early October, as fans clamored once again for him to get the job.
During their conversation, Shepherd observed that Wood Jr. seemed to be speaking about his former job like one might an old relationship—a comparison he also considers fitting.
“It’s like, ‘Hey, do you want to get married?’ and then Comedy Central is like, ‘We gonna date around,’” he quipped. “ ... 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 Rolling Stone interview published Monday, the comedian echoed that sentiment and expressed his appreciation for fans’ support. At the same time, he noted that some of them seem angrier than he is about how Comedy Central has handled the hosting hunt.
“Some people will come up and say, ‘Man, go do your thing!’ and others will come up and they’re almost in mourning, like I posted about my dog dying or something,” he said. “I’m fine. I’m thankful. I had a job for eight years, bro. That’s an excellent run.”
