Stephen Colbert says hosting a late-night show is basically like competing on Chopped

(Image credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

published 17 August 2015

Stephen Colbert is a huge fan of the addictive Food Network show Chopped — and not just because he enjoys watching contestants struggle to make edible meals out of ingredients like goat brains and cactus flower buds. In a recent interview with GQ, the soon-to-be-host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert explained how producing a late-night show isn't all that different from making a recipe out of whatever happens to be at hand — except that in this case the ingredients are, you know, people:

"Who are your guests tonight? There, make a show... Make an appetizer that appeals to millions of people. That's what I like. How could you possibly do it? Oh, you bring in your own flavors. Your house band is another flavor. You have your own flavor. The audience itself is a base dish, like rice pilaf or something. And then together it's 'Oh shit, that's an actual meal.' And that's what every day is like at one of those shows. Something is one thing in the morning, and then by the end of the day it's a totally different thing. It's all a process." [GQ]