Stephen Colbert Went to Therapy for 4 Months Before Taking “The Late Show ”Gig. His Sister's Reaction Changed Everything (Exclusive)
Stephen Colbert Went to Therapy for 4 Months Before Taking “The Late Show ”Gig. His Sister's Reaction Changed Everything (Exclusive)
Colleen KratofilTue, May 19, 2026 at 2:00 PM UTC
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Stephen Colbert explains how he almost didn't accept the offer to be the host of The Late Show after David Letterman
As Colbert nears his final show on May 21, he reveals what changed his mind
"At first I was like, 'No, I can't go do that job. I'm not a standup. I've never been myself," Colbert says in his PEOPLE cover story
As Stephen Colbert describes it, getting to the top of late night was all a "happy accident."
The beloved host, who is nearing his final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on May 21, sat down with PEOPLE for this week's cover story to discuss his wild ride to late night.
"This gig was never the goal," Colbert, 62, tells PEOPLE exclusively. "This gig was never a dream of mine. I grew up on Johnny Carson and I was first generation David Letterman — his first year in late night was my first year in college, and so we perfectly overlapped. And I love all the other guys who do this and I admire what they do, but this wasn't the goal."
As Colbert puts it, he sees himself as an actor and writer. "I became a writer because nobody would cast me in anything and I had to write for myself, and I always imagined that's what I'd be doing after The Colbert Report because that was an acting job," he says.
Stephen Colbert at The George Ballroom in N.Y.C. for PEOPLE on April 3, 2026
Credit: Art Streiber
After eight years on The Daily Show, Colbert landed his own spinoff in 2005 playing a fictional conservative political pundit. It ran for nine seasons and, in 2013, broke The Daily Show’s winning streak at the Emmys for Outstanding Variety Series. But it was never his intention to host another one.
When he was offered the job to take over The Late Show from Letterman in 2015, its original host, he spent four months in therapy before accepting it.
"At first I was like, 'No, I can't go do that job. I'm not a standup. I've never been myself,'" Colbert says, adding that his manager James Dixon helped convince him to consider it. "James goes, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can act at anytime. No one will ever give you this opportunity again. So go see.' So I did."
Stephen Colbert with his sister Mary in 1986
But the "deciding factor" for Colbert, ultimately came down to his sister Mary. "I would have talked to about my mom about this, but she had passed at this point, and so nobody [in my family] knew that I had been offered this job, and I asked my sister, Mary, I said, 'Mary, could you come up?' She lived in D.C. I said, 'Could you come up to New York? I just want to talk to you about something.'"
He says she arrived the next day "and she goes, 'What's going on, kiddo?'"
Colbert says "I got her an old fashioned, I made myself in old fashioned. And I said, 'Well, Dave is stepping down.' And she just burst into a huge smile, and I said, 'Okay, okay. Mary, if this show works out, CBS should send you a bouquet of flowers because I'm going to take the job because you just smiled.' So her happiness for me getting the gig is the thing that really sealed it for me."
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11 seasons later, he says he's "very grateful" about his decision. "I love going out there and talking about the things that were confusing or anxiety-inducing or enraging or just baffling or silly. God, whenever it can be just silly, that's the best. Fewer and far between these days."
Stephen Colbert at The George Ballroom in N.Y.C. for PEOPLE on April 3, 2026
Credit: Art Streiber
The news of The Late Show's cancellation happened in July 2025, just days after Colbert criticized the network’s parent company, Paramount, for its $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump. (Trump sued CBS’ 60 Minutes, accusing them of deceptively editing an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. At the time, Paramount was in the middle of a merger with the entertainment company Skydance, which required approval from the Trump administration.)
When asked if he’ll miss being a part of that daily conversation, he’s quick to say, “I’ll never stop caring about my country. I’m a perfectly fine fan of me, but I am not of the opinion that if my voice is missing from the national conversation, the republic will turn awry.”
Stephen Colbert with George Clooney, his first guest on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' on Sept. 8 2015
Credit: Jeffrey R. Staab/CBS/Everett
At the end of the day, he says he gets "a lot out of" the show. But most of all, he also hopes the viewers did too.
"I harvest laughter for a living, I’ll miss that as much as I’ll miss the audience, that camaraderie of us feeling better about our day, being able to talk about it. A lot of things happen in a day, but we bat last, and I hope it made their day better.”
Stephen Colbert's PEOPLE cover
Credit: Art Streiber
At one point in the interview, he wonders if CBS “saved my life,” because “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."
The last episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will air on Thursday, May 21 at 11:35 p.m. ET on CBS.
For more on Stephen Colbert, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
