“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” will end May 21.

Oprah Winfrey swaps seats, interviews Stephen Colbert on his show: ‘What do you want to release before you go?’

"The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" will end May 21.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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April 8, 2026 12:36 a.m. ET

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Stephen Colbert and Oprah Winfrey on 'The Late Show' April 7. Credit:

Scott Kowalchyk/CBS

Oprah Winfrey has still got it.

The former daytime TV talk show host went on Stephen Colbert's *The Late Show* on Tuesday — one of his final guests ever as the cancelled series marches toward its conclusion — but ended up behind the desk interviewing him.

"So as you're standing here at the threshold," she said, as the audience laughed knowingly, "of what's about to be done and what you're stepping into. What do you feel like in this moment you most want to release?"

Colbert was confused. He obviously missed a few episodes of Winfrey's eponymous series, which aired nationally between 1986 and 2011.

"What do I want to release?" he asked.

Winfrey suggested he think of it as "let go of."

Colbert, who's been in his job since 2015, said he didn't want to let go of anything yet.

"I still have a white-knuckle grip on all these people who I love, who I've worked with all these years, including those people over there," Colbert said, as he shouted out the band, the camera people, the people who handle light and sound, and others on the crew.

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They agreed the audience is an important part of the show. Winfrey noted that she misses the fans the most, and it wasn't because of the applause they provide. Colbert noted he appreciates the audience being the third person in his conversation with a guest.

"The audience is very pure in their engagement of our conversation," Colbert said, noting that the people speaking have points they want to get across. "The audience members are listening and reacting.

Oprah Winfrey on 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' April 7.

CBS announced in July that the franchise would end after the current season.

"We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television," the network said in a statement. "This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount."

Colbert was openly sad when he shared the news with his audience that night.

"It's not just the end of our show, but it's the end of *The Late Show* on CBS," he said. "I'm not being replaced. This is all just going away."

The last episode of *The Late Show* is scheduled to air May 21.

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