James Corden looks set to be staying up late for a few years more on US TV – and earning a large pay bonus in the process.
The 42-year-old star has presented The Late Late Show with James Corden since 2015 and is now reportedly set to sign a deal worth £7 million to keep him in the role until 2024.
James already has a £4.6 million deal in place to keep him in the host seat until next year – but new reports state the new contract would keep him on the show for a further two years.
While the show airs at half past midnight in the USA on CBS on Mondays through Fridays, the show itself actually records earlier in the day – at around 3pm.
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A CBS source has been quoted by The Sun explaining the network is desperate to keep James on the show for years to come.
They said: “The network love him. They are delighted with his work and reach in that tough late-night slot.”
“Previously, James passed on a five-year deal to remain for 24 months, but he has lots more to give and he is very much in the driving seat.”
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Details of the new deal come eight months after reports emerged to suggest James was considering quitting the USA to return to a life in the UK.
The star has been living in the USA with his wife Julia and their kids since 2015, but is said to miss his friends and family back in Blighty.
While the coronavirus pandemic made the distance between Los Angeles and the UK seem that extra bit further as international travel was shown into chaos.
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CBS via Getty Images)
The star was quoted last December saying: “I have a couple of years to go on this contract. Ending the show will always be a bigger family decision than a professional one.
“It will be about people at home who we miss very, very much, who we are homesick for.
“I also feel like my wife and I have three young children, and they are three young grandchildren that we’ve taken away from people.
“This probably feels particularly magnified now during the pandemic, but I have an overwhelming feeling that our family has walked to the beat of my drum for a very long time.”
Despite James’s show bringing him huge success in the USA both financially and critically, he says he keeps himself grounded by hiding his Emmy awards away from himself.
He said: “I hide them all away as I don’t know if it is necessarily good for me to see them every day and think, ‘Oh look at me’.
“I think that is where you can come unstuck. If you think you are a bit more of a dude than you really are.”
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j_corden/Instagram)
The series has won other awards other than Emmys’s including Critics Choice and Writers Guild of America Awards.
The show has been helped by star guests agreeing to ride shotgun with the British comedian while reliving their music back catalogues in the insanely popular segment, Carpool Karaoke.
The segment proved so successful that a spin-off show was created and has aired on Apple TV since 2017.