The final episode of the long-running late-night show airs on Thursday.

Stephen Colbert now thinks Late Show cancellation may have ‘saved my life’

The final episode of the long-running late-night show airs on Thursday.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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May 19, 2026 10:28 a.m. ET

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Stephen Colbert on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' in June 2024. Credit:

Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty

- Stephen Colbert is shifting his energy after the final *Late Show *episode.

- As his *Late Show *winds down, he looks forward to being a father to three adult children and focusing his energy on doing "other things that I want to do."

- The final episode of *The Late Show With Stephen Colbert *airs on Thursday, May 21 at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

Maybe Stephen Colbert's show getting canceled has a silver lining.

The longtime *Late Show With Stephen Colbert *host mused that CBS pulling the plug on his eponymous show "saved my life," he told PEOPLE. The reason? “It takes a lot of bone marrow to do the show every day, and now I’ll be stepping down with enough time, enough energy to do other things that I want to do."

He and his wife, Evelyn McGee Colbert, share three adult children: Madeleine, 30, Peter, 28, and John, 24. Colbert admitted that this stage of fatherhood is "the best."

"To lose an argument with an adult child over something you thought you knew about. I mean, if you can take it, it's pretty great," the 62-year-old quipped.

Stephen Colbert on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' in May 2026.

Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty

Elsewhere in the interview, Colbert mentioned he was hesitant to take over *Late Show* from David Letterman in 2015 after hosting *The Colbert Report *from 2005 until 2014.

"I’m an actor and a writer. I became a writer because nobody would cast me in anything and I had to write for myself. I always imagined that’s what I’d be doing after *The Colbert Report* because that was an acting job. When I got this, at first I was like, ‘No, I can’t do that job. I’m not a standup. I’ve never been myself.'"**

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Reflecting on his time on *Late Show*, Colbert said, “I tried never to take for granted filming in the Ed Sullivan Broadway theater, having that tremendous audience, or having the ability to work with the funniest people I know every day and make jokes about the things that make me most anxious.”

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CBS announced in July 2025 that they were canceling *The Late Show *franchise as a whole after 33 years.

"We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire *The Late Show* franchise at that time. We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television," a statement read, noting that it was "purely a financial decision."**

Stephen Colbert on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' in February 2026.

Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty

Colbert also addressed the decision on his show at the time, lamenting that "this is all just going away."

"Let me tell you, it is a fantastic job," he said. "I wish somebody else was getting it. And it's a job that I'm looking forward to doing with this usual gang of idiots for another 10 months. It's going to be fun."

The final episode of *The Late Show With Stephen Colbert *airs on Thursday, May 21 at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

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