8 of James Corden's most memorable moments on the Late Late Show

James Corden has announced he is set to depart from his late-night talk show The Late, Late Show with James Corden in 2023 after eight years at the helm.

The British comedian and actor broke the news during a recording of his CBS show in Los Angeles on Thursday where he described how it was "the hardest decision I've ever had to make."

"When I started this journey it was always going to be just that, a journey, an adventure," he told viewers.

"I never saw [the show] as my final destination and I never want this show to overstay its welcome in any way, I always want to love making it and I really think in a year from now that will be a good time to move on and see what else might be out there."

It is reported that Corden has signed a contract extension with CBS to host the show for one more year, with the final show taking place in summer 2023.

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Corden joined as the host back in 2015, taking over the role from his predecessor, American comedian and actor Craig Ferguson, which has since propelled the Gavin and Stacey actor to stardom in the US.

“Seven and half years ago I started hosting this show and there’s no other way to put it, it has changed my life."

"I am so proud of what we've achieved, it's been beyond my wildest, wildest dreams," he added.

One of the show's popular segments included Carpool Karaoke where Corden picks up his famous musicians in his car and they sing along to the passenger's hits while the host drives.

Other popular games included Spill Your Guts, Crosswalk Musical, Drop The Mic, with Corden welcoming a plethora of celebrity guests on his show over the year such as One Direction, Britney Spears, Adele, Kanye West, Tom Hanks, Stevie Wonder, BTS, Madonna, and Prince Harry.

Here are some of James Corden's most memorable moments from The Late, Late Show:

Afternoon tea with Prince Harry

An Afternoon with Prince Harry & James Cordenwww.youtube.com

The Late Late Show received royal approval in the form of Prince Harry's appearance on the show in February last year.

It was the first US TV appearance the prince had made since he took a step back from royal duties and made the move to America,

In the segment, the two Brits living in LA decided to have a quintessentially British tea... on a double-decker bus.

"James, you’ve got Carpool Karaoke,” Harry joked. “Maybe I can do English tea on the 405?"

The pair then toured The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s house where there was even a brief cameo from the Duchess of Sussex, Megan Markle when Harry video called her.

One Direction - Tattoo Roulette

Tattoo Roulette w/ One Directionwww.youtube.com

James Corden may be leaving The Late, Late Show next year, but one celebrity will always have a permanent reminder of the comedian's tenure on the show.

In 2015 when One Direction were still together (minus Zayn at this point) and appeared on the programme the band played the risky game of Tattoo Roulette with Corden.

The deal was if Corden picked out the tattoo box, he would get the 1D logo inked on him but if a band member picked it out then they would get The Late, Late Show tattooed on them.

After a tense couple of minutes as each one revealed the contents of their box, Harry Styles was the one who had the tattoo box as a tattoo artist gave him the inking live on air, with the segment receiving over 52 million views on YouTube.

Carpool Karaoke - Michelle Obama, Adele, Britney Spears, One Direction

Adele Carpool Karaokewww.youtube.com

"Carpool Karaoke" is the most popular segment on Corden's show, with the likes of Michelle Obama, Britney Spears, Madonna, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Ed Sheeran all having had a sing-song to their greatest hits with the comedian as he drives.

But the most popular Carpool came in 2016 when Adele accompanied Corden on a car journey and sang her classics such as Hello andSomeone Like You which has received 254 million views on YouTube.

The Grammy Award-winner also treated viewers to a rendition of Wannabe by her favourite girl group, Spice Girls and had the internet talking about her impressive rap skills to Nikki Minaj's song Monster.

Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts with Kim Kardashian

Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts w/ Kim Kardashianwww.youtube.com

Getting a celebrity to reveal some juicy gossip can be difficult, but Corden's game of Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts made it easier with the prospect of having to eat something nasty if you didn't want to answer a difficult personal question.

Kim Kardashian as a guest in 2017 took it in turns with Corden as they asked each other awkward questions about Kim's siblings and James's guests, with some of the food they were faced with if they refused to give an answer included a scarab beetle, a 1,000-year-old egg, cow tongue, bull penis and bird saliva.

Safe to say it made for some entertaining viewing, as the segment has 65 million views on YouTube.

Crosswalk Musical

Crosswalk the Musical: Cinderellawww.youtube.com

We all know Corden loves a good musical, after all he's starred in Cats, Cinderella and Into the Woods, so it's no surprise he made a musical-based segment on his show.

"Crosswalk Musical" is where the comedian invited celebrity guests who are promoting a new musical such as Frozen, The Greatest Showman, and Cinderella that they appear in to take their performance to the busy LA traffic.

Viewers see the cast perform - with props and backing dancers - to a sea of confused commuters, though they're short performances as the singers have to move before the traffic resumes to avoid getting run over.

Corden himself became an internet meme from this segment after he and his Cinderella castmates performed on a crosswalk last year. Footage from a driver went viral showing the host thrusting at a car in a mouse costume to JLo's Let's Get Loud.

Helen Mirren rap battles Corden on "Drop the Mic"

Drop the Mic w/ Helen Mirrenwww.youtube.com

Viewers got to see Helen Mirren annihilate James Corden with her rapping skills in the "Drop the Mic” segment of the Late Late Show in 2018.

Corden didn't hold back in his diss rap about the actress and said: "You dated Liam Neeson back in 1982. He left you real quick; he wasn’t ‘taken’ with you," in reference to Mirren's previous relationship with Liam Neeson.

To which Mirren fired back in response: "I’m the one you should fear, wherever I go. If I’m a pain in your a**, that leaves a lot of room to grow."

Mirren's mic drop moment came at the end: "And I reckon I wrecked you, you've been to hell and back, b***h!"

Corden's emotional response to UK terror attacks in London and Manchester

James Corden's Message to Londonwww.youtube.com

Although Corden's late-night hosting will be remembered for its comedic segments, a poignant moment during his time on the CBS show that will be remembered is the emotional addresses he gave on two occasions after the terror attacks in the UK.

The first message he gave was to the people of London after a terror attack took place on London Bridge in 2017.

“While we’re filming this, it’s still unknown what the motives were. What we do know at this point is that people have lost their lives and many, many more have been injured,” he said.

“Watching the news today, I felt a really long, long way from home. When something like that happens in your hometown, you don’t have a feeling of being glad that you’re so far away, what you feel is that you wish you could be there with loved ones to stand alongside them.”

James Corden's Message to Manchesterwww.youtube.com

Then later on in the same year, Corden paid tribute to the people of Manchester after a terrorist attack at the city's arena during an Ariana Grande concert.

"When I think of Manchester, the place that I know, I think of the spirit of the people there. And I’m telling you, a more tight-knit group of people you will be hard-pressed to find. Strong, proud, caring people with community at its core," he said.

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