Corden's final 'Late Late Show' will air on Thursday.
James Corden may not feel entirely ready to leave The Late Late Show, but he's confident it's the right decision. The comedian spoke with ET ahead of his final show on Thursday, explaining why he felt "compelled" to organize his departure now.
"You don't want to be making a mistake but I just feel compelled to do it," Corden told ET's Nischelle Turner. "I feel like I've got to, I feel like if I don't leave now, I never will...or it will be me just being pushed out the door."
Corden first announced plans to leave The Late Late Show in April 2022. He remained host for a final season before his official departure this week.
Corden told ET that his goodbye to the show is one of many changes for his family this year -- he is now prepping for a move back to London with his wife, Lisa, and their three children.
"Change in your life comes with a huge amount of fear, professional, personal," he said. "We're going to move back to London, we're going to put three kids into a new school. That in itself would be a lot to do, and then to walk away from what just has been the most magical experience I could have ever wished for...to, with intention, turn everything upside down comes with a lot of fear."
To Corden, though, the fear signals that he's doing something right. "I just think how things end is important," he said. "How you close things off is really, really important. I think that it matters, and I think I've done 1200 shows by the time we finish -- that is a lot of TV. We have done things on the show that far exceeded anything I thought we were capable of."
Corden added that his most treasured memories will always be the people. "It's a magical environment, there's been so much growth," he said. "In the truest sense it feels like a found family, and we've been through a lot as a team."
He's especially proud of his team's handling of pandemic restrictions, and grateful for the hard work that allowed the show to survive and shift with changing times. "Through COVID, and we've watched people get married, we've seen babies born, we've supported each other as people lost loved ones, we've gone through shooting the show remotely in my garage," Corden continued. "We have been through an absolute roller coaster and that's what I will miss. I will miss the camaraderie, the environment, the spirit."
Ahead of Thursday's final episode, Corden welcomed Adele for a touching final segment of his beloved Carpool Karaoke. In the video, Adele reveals that Corden and his wife have been her two greatest confidantes for years, especially after she relocated to Los Angeles amid her split from Simon Konecki, the father of her son, Angelo. She adds that a conversation between her and Corden inspired the song "I Drink Wine," which she says has some of her "best writing."
Adele's first time in the passenger seat for Carpool Karaoke originally aired on the Late Late Show in January 2016, and has since racked up more than 260 million views.
Corden's popular segment will be celebrated one more time with the one-hour primetime special, The Last Last Late Show With James Corden Carpool Karaoke Special at 10 p.m. EST on Thursday, followed by the final episode of the show. Corden will also welcome a host of A-list celebrities during his final week, including Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Josh Gad, Jennifer Garner, Brett Goldstein, Kate Hudson, Mila Kunis, Seth Meyers, Billy Porter and Sharon Stone.
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