Roy Wood Jr. is keeping his options open.
The comedian, who has been a correspondent on The Daily Show since 2015, has naturally come up in conversation about who should replace Trevor Noah, who announced his plans to step down as host of the storied late night political talk show on Sept. 29.
Wood Jr. said "you can't say no" to a job like that, in an exclusive interview with E! News at the season five premiere of Inside Amy Schumer on Oct. 18, but revealed that everything about the hosting gig is still up in the air, adding, "I don't know which way that's going to play out in January."
Noah's last day as host of The Daily Show is Dec. 8. After a break, the show will return on Jan. 17, presumably with a new host behind the iconic desk.
Whether or not Wood Jr. becomes the fourth host in the show's history—after Noah, Jon Stewart and Craig Kilborn—the 43-year-old comedian isn't planning on going anywhere.
"The question nobody is asking is, ‘If you're not hosting, are you still staying?' Hell yeah. It's a great job," Wood Jr. said. "I get an opportunity to tell stories that we normally wouldn't get to tell. I think the dope thing about The Daily Show is we have correspondents, and they operate as these extensions of the show. A lot of shows don't have that."
Though Wood Jr. admitted that he was surprised by Noah's announcement, he supports his decision. "At the end of the day," he said, "I'm happy for anyone that chooses to do whatever makes them happy."
As for any fear that The Daily Show might miss a step in the absence of Noah, Wood Jr. made sure to squash those concerns.
"The Daily Show is an institution," he said. "A friend of mine told me a long time ago, ‘We don't own these jobs, we lease them.' So it's all temporary. Whether it's Kilborn or Jon or Trevor, whatever the next iteration of The Daily Show is gonna be is going to be fine and we're going to keep whoopin' their ass and pointing out the bullsh-t. Nothing's going to change."
The Daily Show airs weeknights at 11 p.m. on Comedy Central. The fifth season of Inside Amy Schumer premieres Oct. 20 on Paramount+.
-Reporting by Charles O'Keefe