Since Jon Stewart announced his imminent retirement from The Daily Show‘s hosting chair earlier this year, fans, including the Daily Dot, have wondered who would be his replacement. According to a report by Variety, one of the names on the shortlist is Trevor Noah.
Variety, which cited a source “familiar with the matter,” noted that nothing has yet been set in stone; however, the process of selecting a new host seems to be rolling toward a conclusion.
Noah, a biracial, South Africa-born comedian, joined the show as a correspondent last year.
He may be a relatively new face in the United States, but he has a wealth of hosting experience in his native South Africa. Since first breaking into show business at the age of 18 as a soap opera actor, Noah has hosted a youth radio program, an educational show, a celebrity gossip TV show, a sports show, a dating game show, the South African Film and Television Awards, a reality TV competition, the South African Music Awards, and a late night talk show called Tonight With Trevor Noah.
A number of other obvious in-house candidates have taken themselves out of contention for the job. The husband-and-wife team of Jason Jones and Samantha Bee, who tag-teamed the hosting gig when Stewart was out sick last year, are decamping for their own shows on TBS.
Correspondent Jessica Williams may have had a cameo as the host of The Daily Show circa 2025 in Hot Tub Time Machine 2, but the comedian took herself out of contention with a series of tweets insisting she wasn’t a good fit for the role.
John Oliver, who earned rave reviews when he inhabited the host’s chair for months while Stewart took a leave of absence to direct the film Rosewater, is off doing his own thing.
Here is Noah’s debut segment for The Daily Show:
H/T Variety | Screengrab via The Daily Show/YouTube
