Trevor Noah details his surprise exit from 'The Daily Show': 'I want to leave before I’m burnt out'

Trevor Noah opened up about his bombshell decision to exit the Daily Show during the tapping on September 29, 2022.

Not only did he surprise the audience but also his show producers, crew and his representatives, who were flying to Toronto.

Noah, 38, shared in an expansive interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he didn’t want the news of his exit to come from anywhere else but him.

“Part of the reason I did it that way is because I didn’t want anybody to be the person who then tells somebody else, who then tells somebody else, who then tells somebody else,” Noah told THR in the following month.

“And this is where we create the thing. [The show] is where we’re together, our space, and so for me, it felt like the most natural way to tell everybody at the same time.”

During the tapping, Noah had requested a few extra minutes before the commercial break as he made the announcement. “Before we go,” he began, sharing that he had a conversation with correspondent Roy Wood Jr. the previous day, when he was reminded that it was their seventh anniversary.

And I just found myself filled with gratitude for the journey,” he continued. “It’s been absolutely amazing, and I found myself thinking about everything we’ve gone through — the Trump presidency, the pandemic, more pandemic — and I realised that after the seven years, my time is up.”

The THR noted that upon closer scrutiny, one can hear the audible gasps that the announcement elicited from the studio audience the Daily Show crew.

The stand-up comedian continued, explaining how, at 38, he wanted to go have other experiences — to travel more, to tour more.

“Maybe this comes with not being raised in America, but I believe that everything should end,” explained Noah. “A lot of American business and American media is just like, ‘Keep it going as long as possible,’ but I think it’s healthy for things to end when they’re still in a good place. I want to leave before I’m burnt out, because there are many other things I’d like to do.”

According to the outlet, The Daily Show was never part of Noah’s plan, much less his dream. In fact, when Jon Stewart (who hosted the show before him) first called, back in 2013, about him being an international correspondent on the show, Noah wasn’t interested.

Noah was not even 30 and he barely knew who Stewart was, and he certainly didn’t love the idea of derailing a lucrative stand-up career to join an American TV show. However, he came around, ultimately appearing on The Daily Show three times before he agreed to what seemed to be a suicide mission to replace Stewart as host in March 2015, per THR.