Nairobi News

South African comedian Trevor Noah on Thursday announced that he will be leaving the American satirical show The Daily Show.

In a video statement shared on Twitter, Noah said that after seven years as host of the Comedy Central satirical news program, his “time is up.”

“It’s been absolutely amazing. It’s something that I never expected,” Noah said of his experience hosting the show.

“I found myself thinking throughout the time of everything we’ve gone through. The Trump presidency, the pandemic, just the journey, more pandemic and I realize that after the seven years, my time is up.”

Also read: Actor Abel Mutua narrates how fan called him minutes before his death

A special message from Trevor Noah pic.twitter.com/lMM8ll51fu

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) September 30, 2022

Also read: Hamisa Mobetto says Tanzanian men gave her the most heartbreaks

“I want to say thank you to you, to you who watched this. I never dreamed that I would be here. I sort of feel like ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.’ I came here for a tour of what the previous show was and then the next thing you know I was handed the keys,” he went on

Noah, who was a relative newcomer to American audiences when he was named as host of The Daily Show after Jon Stewart signed off in 2015, hinted that his decision to leave the show is informed by his desire to return to more standup work.

Also read: Kenyan artistes remember American rapper Coolio

“I spent two years in my apartment, not on the road, and when I got back out there, I realized there’s another part of my life out there that I want to carry on exploring. I miss learning other languages. I miss going to other countries and putting on shows,” he said.

He expressed his gratitude to his viewers, The Daily Show team and to Comedy Central, “who believed in this random comedian nobody knew on this side of the world.”

It however remains unclear when he will actually step down or whether the Paramount Global cable network had started looking for a replacement.