‘That would be lovely’: ‘Daily Show’ host Jon Stewart on welcoming Trevor Noah back after winning Emmy

South African comedian Trevor Noah was welcomed by US comedian Jon Stewart on Sunday night to share the spotlight with him on The Daily Show.

Stewart was speaking at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles. The Daily Show won the Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series.

Stewart joked when asked by TimesLIVE in the press room whether there might be a possibility to bring former host Noah back to the desk.

“Am I being fired?” he joked backstage.

“In all seriousness, that’d be lovely, the more the merrier. We have such a lovely family of outstanding talent through the years, from [Steve] Carell and [Stephen] Colbert, to [John] Oliver and Rob Corddry. All these incredible people have walked through the doors, and as you see, the incredible talent that stands on this stage.

“We always have a sense that we’re ‘borrowing’ [the comedians] because we understand some other producer who has more money than basic cable is going to say, ‘that person can do something great for us’. I’ve loved the family of collaborators we’ve built up over all the years, and the nice part about tonight is coming out and seeing everybody again.”

Noah has been nominated for 20 Emmy awards and won two, including Outstanding Talk Series in January. He won an Emmy in 2017 for Outstanding Short Form Variety Series.

The 40 year-old Johannesburg native received a nod for Outstanding Variety Special — Pre-recorded for Trevor Noah: Where Was I. The winner went to Dick Van Dyke 98 Years of Magic.

He also received a nomination for Outstanding Variety Special for the 66th Grammy Awards, where he was a host and producer. The winner went to The Oscars on ABC.

When Stewart was asked if he would extend his stay with The Daily Show, where he hosts on Mondays as part of a “hybrid host” oversight role, the 23-time Emmy winner said he may need to.

“My feeling is this [US] election will never end, so why would I? How could I leave? I won’t be allowed to leave until the election, until we’re all ground to some sort of calcified nub. We’re looking forward to it being awful.”

Stewart, who brought on Noah in August 2015 as host of The Daily Show after hosting the programme for nearly 17 years, went back as a Monday host. Noah hosted for seven years from 2015 to 2022.

The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards marked the first time in 75 years the awards ceremony was held in January and September 2024, twice in one year, due to the Hollywood actors’ strike which delayed the 2023 Emmys to January 2024.

Shōgun won big in the drama category, taking home four of the biggest awards of the evening. Hacks won Best Comedy; and four awards in a limited series or TV movie category went to Baby Reindeer.