Trevor Noah has refected on his time hosting The Daily Show ahead of his departure.
The comedian, 38, recently announced he was stepping down as host of the Comedy Central series after seven years.
In a statement, he said: “It’s been absolutely amazing. It’s something that I never expected.”
However, in an appearance on Dua Lipa’s podcast At Your Service, Noah recalled the “extremely stressful” time he went through after accepting Jon Stewart’s invitation to join the show.
“It’s extremely stressful. It is debilitating at times. It is terrifying. It is a world where most people don’t want you to succeed,” he said, adding: “It’s a gruelling environment to be in and understandably. I don’t even say it from the place of, oh, feel sorry for me. It’s just like, well, no, it was a hell of a ride. I do love the show.”
Noah also remembered the unlikely way he found out he was wanted for the series.
“It’s so wild because I remember exactly where I was,” he said. “I was in Harrods in London for the first time in my life. I went and I remember I was standing in front of an underwater scooter mobile thing where you could ride a motorbike underwater and I’m just staring at this thing just enthralled. My phone rang and it was Jon Stewart.
He said that he “didn’t know” Stewart at the time, and was confused because it was a “random number”.
“He’s like, ‘I work on a little show called The Daily Show.’ I was like, ‘ih yeah, I know The Daily Show.’ He’s like, ’As you should, young man, as you should.’ Immediately I was like, ‘This guy’s a really weird dude’ and he was very funny.”
During their conversation, Stewart said he was a fan of Noah’s comedy and invited him to join the show.
“I was really flattered and I said, ‘Thank you very much but right now, the answer would be no.’ He said, ‘I’m sorry, are you saying no? You don’t understand – I’m inviting you to be on American television.’ He was really taking the piss while saying these things, but he was being sincere at the same time.
Noah’s final Daily Show episode will air on 8 December.
