Here's Why Trevor Noah Kept His Daily Show Exit A Secret
"The Daily Show," Comedy Central's late-night satirical news show and talk show that airs every Monday through Thursday night, has been around since 1996. So unsurprisingly, it has had several different hosts so far. In addition to several guest hosts who take over the show for one episode or a handful of episodes, there have been three main hosts so far: Craig Kilborn (1996-1998), Jon Stewart (1999-2015), and Trevor Noah (2016-2022).
While each host brings something new and different to "The Daily Show," there also comes a time for each host to end their tenure and take their career in another direction. Since they have to create and film a whole new show every Monday through Thursday night, there is not a lot of time to work on other projects while hosting "The Daily Show."
During the September 29, 2022 filming of "The Daily Show," Trevor Noah announced that he would be stepping down as host. The date for Trevor Noah's departure from "The Daily Show" is December 8, 2022. However, Noah's "The Daily Show" departure came as a shock to the crew, because he didn't tell anyone about it beforehand. It turns out that he had a good reason for keeping his exit a secret.
Noah wanted to make his announcement to everyone at the same time
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Trevor Noah elaborated on his decision to step down as host of "The Daily Show" after the end of 2022. He originally announced that he would be leaving the show during the filming of a September episode. He told everyone all at once, and nobody knew ahead of time.
Noah said, "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." Indeed, often when you tell one person a secret, the secret then leaks out and others may get offended that you did not tell them first. Telling everyone at the same time avoids an awkward, gradual rumor leak.
Additionally, as to why he announced his decision during the filming of the show rather than at some other location, Noah said, "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."