Conan O’Brien addresses ‘weirdness’ of being back on Tonight Show after 2010 firing

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Conan O’Brien made his return to The Tonight Show for the primary time in 14 years since his abrupt exit as host in 2010.

Appearing on Tuesday (9 April) evening’s episode of the favored late-night chat present with present host Jimmy Fallon, O’Brien, 60, admitted that it felt “weird to come back”.

“I haven’t been in this building for such a long time, and I haven’t been on this floor in forever,” O’Brien mentioned.

Asked if he had any flashbacks, O’Brien mentioned he had “strange memories”.

“I was here for 16 years doing the Late Night show before we went out to LA – right across the hall – and all these memories came flooding back to me.”

Continuing, he informed Fallon: “The first thing that will hit you – and it will hit you, too, because one day you’ll have this show as long as you want it, but when you’re 98, you’ll move on and someone else will be in this studio. When someone else is in your studio, it feels weird.

“So I walked in and went, ‘Who’s in my old studio?’ And they said Kelly Clarkson.” The American Idol star at present hosts her eponymous speak present, The Kelly Clarkson Show.

“I love Kelly Clarkson. Who doesn’t love Kelly Clarkson? But still I felt like, ‘It’s not right! Blasphemy! They should’ve burned it to the ground,’” O’Brien joked.

He briefly hosted NBC’s Tonight Show for 2 seasons following his tenure internet hosting the community’s Late Night present from 1993 to 2009. He was fired from the previous in 2010 when host Jay Leno determined to return.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2012, O’Brien mentioned that whereas he nonetheless had latent resentment, he acknowledged a onetime “amazing partnership with NBC”.

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“There are moments of, ‘What the hell happened? Why did that person do that or say that?’ But there’s also lot of, ‘OK, let’s file this under There’s A Lot I Can’t Control,’” he mentioned.

The comic makes his return to tv together with his forthcoming journey collection, Conan O’Brien Must Go, which debuts on 18 April on Max within the US. The collection will observe O’Brien as he travels to places corresponding to Ireland, Thailand, Argentina and Norway and takes within the native tradition, delicacies, and sights.

It marks O’Brien’s first TV venture since he wrapped his 11-season late-night TBS present, Conan, in 2021. He’s been internet hosting his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, within the meantime.