James Corden is feeling grateful.
On Monday, the Cats star recorded a special message to commemorate the 5th anniversary of The Late Late Show. Addressing viewers from his home, James thanked the fans for their continued support and reflected on how the show has shaped his life. He also admitted that he and the Late Late Show team had envisioned a different setup when planning the celebratory episode, but still had something special in the works to ring in the milestone anniversary.
"I wanted to make a small message because today is the 5th anniversary of our Late Late Show first-ever airing here on CBS," the late night host said into the camera. "We had so many big plans for tonight for the show that we were gonna give to you. And, for obvious reasons, we can't give you that show right now."
The Carpool Karaoke mastermind continued, "So, we thought what we would play tonight is our first ever episode of The Late Late Show, an episode which if I think back to it, I'm filled with nerves and excitement…"
"When that curtain opened and I walked out for the first time, I didn't know if I was gonna fall flat on my face or if this was all gonna be okay," he added. "And I never thought that day that I would be here today talking to you five years on."
James also took a minute to give The Late Late Show's first guest Tom Hanks a shout-out and made sure to send him and his wife Rita Wilson his best wishes following their coronavirus diagnosis: "That first episode is also important to us because it makes me think of Tom Hanks, who was our first-ever guest on the show—who our thoughts go out to. Him and Rita in Australia right now."
Acknowledging the recent events surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, James concluded his message on an uplifting note, saying, "Our thoughts go out to all of you, wherever you are. This is the strangest, strangest time and all we've ever wanted to do on our show is bring you some light in the dark in the corner of your room every night. And, we're gonna do our best at some point to continue trying to do that."
"Thank you for these last five year and letting me talk to you every night," he added. "I never expected it be quite the journey that it's been."
Watch James' emotional message in the video above!