James Corden became tearful as he said goodbye to The Late Late Show after eight years as host on Thursday.

The British comedian became choked up as he thanked the audience and his crew for making the show "what it is today" at the end of his final episode.

"I've struggled to find the words to sum up what this past eight years has meant to me, it is almost impossible, and frankly, I don't know where to start," he said. "But I sit here now today with nothing but love, gratitude, and pride. This show is everything I ever wanted it to be... I'm just one part of a big team who make this show. This was never my show, it was ours, and I'm going to miss every single one of you so much."

To conclude his final speech, Corden said, "All we've ever wanted is just be a little bit of light and levity at the end of your day. Thank you for letting me do this. Thank you for letting me into your home every night. I've never taken for granted what an absolute privilege this has been."

The 44-year-old ended his final show by performing an original song at the piano as a montage of highlights and photos of the crew flashed onscreen.

At the end of the song, Corden was overcome with emotion when he sang, "And part of me thinks why not stay here forever, but deep in my heart I just know, no more shows to be showing, it's time I was going, it's time, thanks for watching, that's our show."

With tears in his eyes, he said to the camera, "Thank you so much for your time everybody, I will miss you, good night."

The final episode featured an interview and a game of Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts with Harry Styles and Will Ferrell, a surprise pre-taped message from U.S. President Joe Biden and a pre-recorded sketch with fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and Stephen Colbert.

They implored Corden to keep the tricks of the trade secret and not to enjoy his retirement too much before former talk show host David Letterman appeared. The skit concluded with Corden competing on The Masked Singer with Trevor Noah, who left The Daily Show in December.

The last live episode was followed by a pre-taped special, which featured Corden's final Carpool Karaoke with Adele and a sketch with Tom Cruise in which they performed Hakuna Matata with the cast of The Lion King stage show while dressed as Timon and Pumbaa.