Chelsea Handler Wants to Host ‘The Daily Show’—And Maybe She Should.

Amidst a mass exodus from late-night television that’s brought an end to Full Frontal With Samantha Bee and Desus & Mero, as well as the exits of James Corden from The Late Late Show and Trevor Noah from The Daily Show, it’s easy to wonder who even wants to be a late-night host anymore. The answer to that would be Chelsea Handler—who made her debut behind the Daily Show desk on Monday, and also became the first guest host to openly pitch herself as a permanent replacement. 

Comedy Central’s flagship program took a five-week hiatus after Noah’s sudden exit before welcoming guest hosts Leslie Jones, Wanda Sykes, and D.L. Hughley. Each of them played it cool, demurring or downright denying any permanent Daily Show aspirations. But since guest hosting a week of Jimmy Kimmel Live! last summer, Handler says she’s ready to return to the daily TV grind. “Walking into a perfectly run operation, having an A team and me being on my A game—it was just great, every aspect of it. I loved it. It made me remember why I do that, and why I want to do it again,” the longtime Chelsea Lately host recently said on The Daily Beast’s The Last Laugh podcast. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I’m supposed to be taking the news, regurgitating it out for everybody on a regular basis. That’s what I’m good for.”

Handler helmed her E! series from 2017 to 2014 and was floated as a possible replacement for Dave Letterman before moving on to Netflix’s first talk show, a self-titled venture that lasted just two seasons, from 2016 to 2017. In the lead-up to her week at The Daily Show, Handler positioned herself as the best of both hosting worlds: a legacy pick with years of experience and a breath of fresh air in an industry that’s still somehow male-dominated. “There are too many white men doing the same job,” Handler recently told Variety, adding, “I thought I made a real dent by doing my show and proving to people that you can be a woman and host a late night show, but it seems like people need to be reminded one more time. And I might be that person to remind them.”

For all of her pre-show campaigning, Handler casually sauntered onto the Daily Show stage Monday night, offering a sheepish but warm “Hey, guys” as the warm-up comedian roasted the crowd. She appeared understandably nervous but in high spirits as she introduced her brother Roy, seated in the front row, before promising the audience was “gonna fucking love” the show. (Some audience members seemed predisposed to enjoy the episode—including a few excited fans I spotted watching clips of Handler’s standup before she entered the studio.) 

“This is where I get to spend a week talking shit about all the wackjobs and hot messes out there, but I do it sitting behind a desk because I’m a professional,” Handler said in her signature deadpan, shaking off most of the visible nerves at the top of the show. She then shuffled through the day’s headlines—starting off with the Chinese balloon that a U.S. fighter jet shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday. “As you heard, this balloon was the size of three buses,” Handler began. “And for the rich people out there who don’t know what a bus is, they’re those big yellow vehicles that bring Matt Gaetz’s girlfriends to school.”

Handler gamely sparred with correspondent Dulcé Sloan and appeared in a clip spoofing celebrities who take diabetic drug Ozempic for weight loss. (“I need it to host The Daily Show!” she said before tackling a man to the ground.) But it was her skewering of the aforementioned “wackjobs and hot messes” that earned Handler’s biggest laughs.