James Corden wraps up 'Late Late Show' with final Adele Carpool Karaoke: see his highlights
It was an emotional final carpool karaoke when Adele surprised James Corden and tearfully sang with him for the last time. The two reminisced about friendship, shared personal stories and looked back over Corden's time on the 'Late Late Show' in general.
The presenter spoke on The Drew Barrymore Show in January about leaving the show, saying: "I will be a mess on that last show. I will cry my eyes out but I will know at my core that the best thing for me and the best thing for us as a family is to put down some roots in London, and it feels absolutely right in every single way."
"It's been a crazy eight years," said Corden during the final Carpool Karaoke with the world-famous singer. "In one sense it feels like it's gone like that [clicks fingers] and in another, I feel like I don't remember what life was like before being here." Perhaps this photo will jog memories?
Corden is leaving his $36 million per year salary to head back to the UK and spend more time with his family. The Daily Mail reports that this may be the end of 'The Late Late Show' altogether, so we look back at the best moments of the show during Corden's time at the helm: some controversial, some funny, and some downright hilarious.
'The Late Late Show', shown on CBS in the evenings during the week, is a talk show with celebrity guests, comedy sketches, and musical performances. James took over hosting the show in 2015 and since then has had an amazing array of celebrities on his show.
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In tough times like the pandemic, Corden always tried to stay positive: "This is the strangest, strangest time, and all we’ve ever wanted to do on our show is bring you some light in the dark, in the corner of your room every night and we’re going to do our best at some point to continue trying to do that."
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In February 2022, he spoke to the Duke of Sussex about the famous split from the Royal Family and his reasons for making the decision. Prince Harry also talked about his new life in the States and his small family.
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But it wasn’t any old interview - he was picked up by Corden driving a double decker bus, given British tea and, like a true sightseer, was asked by Corden to pay the bus fare. Prince Harry showed his funny side and humour well in this episode and said, “You know us royals, we don't carry cash.”
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David and James (AKA D&J) bared all when they created a spoof advert for their new line of underwear (tighty whities to be exact) The black and white advert was meant to bring attention to Corden taking over the show in 2015 and attention was brought. The underwear is described to maintain men’s sense of self during the day, leaving them feeling “secure,” “free,” “cradled,” and “alive,”. The advert finished with Corden saying the briefs are "for a man with a great body...and David Beckham"
James Corden, for one of his incredible celebrity ‘interviews’, hung out with Jason Momoa for a day. For those who know Jason Momoa, he is a pro at throwing axes, knives and has some serious archery skills. Corden isn’t really that kind of guy. It makes for great TV watching him try, though. He gives archery his best shot, rides motorcycles and cracks the odd whip or two. To top it off, Momoa tries shooting an apple off Corden’s head… blindfolded.
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His opening musical number at the Tonys in 2019 is one of Corden’s moments to remember. His song choice (which was a full blown musical extravaganza), was aimed at getting the public to visit the theatre more often.
In the Tony bit, he takes aim at TV and well-known streaming platforms, singing: “You watch Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, till you can’t remember which program is on… We do it live! It can’t be hash-tagged, and it isn’t tweetable!” It was funny, witty and totally Corden.
James Corden has one tattoo which is inked upon his right calf. In an interview with Dakota Johnson, the questions turned on Corden and he was asked if he was sure he knew what the Chinese symbol on his calf meant. His answer?
“Well, this is the thing. So, I thought it meant ― originally I thought it meant ‘tattoo,’ which I thought was quite funny… Turns out, it doesn’t mean that.”
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He continued, “Someone else told me they thought it might mean ‘crane.’”
“Crane, like, a machine or a bird?” Johnson asked.
“The machine, I think.”
The Northall: a high-end London eatery. Picture the scene. Chris Hemsworth the waiter: force-feeding guests tomatoes, pouring copious amounts of wine into glasses and forgetting pretty much every order he is given. Versus James Corden the waiter: announcing allergies over tannoy, serenading with a violin and giving piggybacks to customers. Carnage… but thoroughly entertaining.
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A slightly twisted, can’t-even-blink episode of the show where he assembled the One Direction band members and decided to play a ‘Deal or no Deal’ style game with a permanent tattoo as the prize at the end. The competition whittled down to Harry and Niall, who is actually the only member of 1D without a tattoo and therefore the most nervous. Recorded for fans to watch for all time is the moment Harry Styles got a Late Late tattoo immediately after he opened the ‘tattoo’ box.
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In a retelling of one of his own personal moments, James Corden revealed his less-than-funny joke about what name they should give their youngest (and third) child. He said, “The doctor asked about a name and I don’t know why I said it [but] I looked at the doctor and I said, 'We’re going to call her Beyoncé.'"
"My wife (Julia) did not think that was funny. Then a nurse went to the other side of the room and started filling out a form with the name Beyoncé and I had to go over to her and go, ‘Uh, excuse me, there is only one Beyoncé.’"
Easily the greatest Carpool Karaoke, Corden drove round London with the incredible Grammy-Award-winning singer, Adele. They talked about Adele’s drunken memories and sang a few songs, including Nicki Minaj’s ‘Monster’ which is simply brilliant. Corden sings along and receives a priceless facial expression from Adele as he belts out the high notes to her hit, ‘Hello’.
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Frantic, lively and simply brilliant, Corden was joined by Emily Blunt and co-star Lin-Manuel Miranda (Mary Poppins Returns) to give a rendition of no less than 22 movie musicals. The idea was to cram in as many as possible into a 12 minute window and the team showed us delights from Annie to Mamma Mia, and Cabaret to Hairspray, whilst changing costumes, grabbing props and breathing when they could!
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Crosswalk in general is one of James Cordens finest ideas executed with brilliance and exceptional comedic timing. Harry Styles, who Corden is often seeing winding up, appeared in his own Crosswalk concert at the eve of the debut of his second album, Fine Line. This concert is hilariously frantic and delivers on all levels - even at the highest level...
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Although Corden has delivered some great Crosswalk the musical moments, including Beauty and the Beast (where he, of course, played Belle), Les Miserables and The Lion King, definitely one of the highlights of this comedy skit was the black-leather clad Corden playing Dani Zuko in Grease as he jumps on the bonnet of a car whose driver was unknowingly driving into musical madness. Completely a Capella and without any props, an original James Corden Crosswalk Musical that will provide a lot of laughs.
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James Corden’s Star Star Tours has taken off. But what happens when the cast of Marvels’ Avengers: Infinity War decide to get on board? In James’ first star tour (that takes the stars on a star tour), he educates the team on how to order coffee, queue politely and generally behave in a comic book shop. A must-see for pure enjoyment.
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Anne Hathaway, an elegant lady in every sense with some very respectable Hollywood roles to her name, including Les Miserables, The Dark Knight Rises and recently, The Witches, shows her other side in this genious rap battle. Not to be reckoned with, Anne has some serious tricks up her sleeve and doesn’t let Corden get away lightly.
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Carpool Karaoke has become almost as famous as previous POTUS, Obama and his wife. After admitting she wasn’t able to listen to music much when she was on the move, Michelle belted out Stevie Wonder, Missy Elliott and Beyoncé, as James Corden took her for a drive around the White House grounds. Brilliant comedy, brilliant personal insight into Michelle Obama’s joyful personality and brilliant TV.
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Completely cringeworthy to watch, but laugh-out-loud funny, this mockumentary-style interview is absolutely one of James Corden’s funniest moments. The sketch shows Corden and Paul Rudd tell viewers about the time they created children’s music songs and videos as a pair called The Naptime Boyz and let’s just say, it didn’t take off.
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James Corden tries to bring his Christmas tree home with Mariah Carey sitting in the front seat. They start singing a fabulous rendition of the Christmas classic, All I Want for Christmas is You and are subsequently joined by Lady Gaga, Adele, Selena Gomez, Chris Martin and other celebrities singing along. Capturing some real Christmas cheer, this star-studded special episode is simply marvellous.
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Two-for-the-price-of-one in this Carpool Karaoke memorable moment. Melissa McCarthy comes along for the ride which shows Christina Aguilera instructing Corden on vocal technique and basically how to become a diva. Coming from the woman with one of the best vocals in the business, the session is simply jaw-dropping as she shows why people all over the world should continue to respect her talent.
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Corden makes legendary Elton John feel at home in his car as they drive around, chat, sing and wear fabulous costumes. They belt out songs from Your Song” and “Tiny Dancer” to “Crocodile Rock” and “Circle of Life” from The Lion King. Insightful and delightful.
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The Oscar-winning Dreamgirls actress and judge of The Voice came along to one of James Corden’s first Carpool Karaokes. I guess, with Jennifer Hudson’s voice, he was relaxed knowing she would stun audiences and she did come across a true superstar. So she not only made James Corden put a hand over his mouth in awe as she finished the final notes of Dreamgirls’ ‘And I am Telling You’, but she also excitedly yelled at tourists on a tour bus and sang Corden’s burger order at a fast food drive through.
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Int he final carpool karaoke, we got one of the sweetest exchanges between the two. Adele said to Corden, "I've never lived in LA without you guys so I'm a bit nervous about it, to be honest with you, and very, very sad.” Later on she added, "You're one of my best friends in the whole world. I'm gonna miss you so much.”
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