James Corden is replacing Craig Ferguson as host on CBS’ The Late Late Show, according to various reports. The British actor/comedian will be filling the vacancy announced earlier this year.

James CordonJames Corden will replace Craig Ferguson [Getty/Ian Gavan]

The move represents a sizable boost for Corden’s career. He broke onto the scene with his performance in Alan Bennett’s The History Boys, playing the character of Timms. But it wouldn’t be until Gavin and Stacey, on which his character of Smithy endeared so many, that Corden would permeate the zeitgeist of celebrity. 

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Since then, and despite a few notable movie flops in Lesbian Vampire Killers and One Chance, the biopic of Paul Potts, Corden’s career has gone from strength to strength, hosting the popular Sky One sports panel show, A League of Their Own, and helming The Brit Awards five times. 

Craig FergusonCraig Ferguson is leaving The Late Late Show

Ferguson - Scottish by birth, becoming an American citizen in 2008 - won considerable critical praise during his CBS tenure for his quick wit and intelligence. But, like Corden, he was a relative unknown in the U.S, drafted in after a role as Bing Hitler and a fairly undistinguished stretch hosting a late night show in Channel 5. 

“CBS and I are not getting divorced, we are ‘consciously uncoupling’, but we will still spend holidays together and share custody of the fake horse and robot skeleton, both of whom we love very much,” he said in an April of his departure from the show. 

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And while Corden’s profile in the U.S in minimal, he does carry with him a wealth of followers from the U.K – 4 million on Twitter, to be exact, and would probably satisfy an emerging need for media-savvy TV personalities who can engage with their audience via modern technologies. He would, however, as a white male,  contravene recent calls for diversity for America’s on-screen entertainment. The Wrap have the exclusive.