Nish Kumar steps down as host of Late Night Mash
"It’s been the longest I’ve ever stayed in a job, mainly because the uniform is nicer than that of Croydon WH Smith’s."
Comedian Nish Kumar has stepped down as the host of Late Night Mash, not long after the show was picked up by the TV channel Dave.
Nish shared a video to Twitter to announce the news. He said: “Hi, Nish Kumar here. I hope you’ve enjoyed this latest series of Late Night Mash.
“Sadly, it’s going to be my last as host. I’ve loved being part of this show. But I’ve made the difficult decision to step down and spend more time with my emotional problems.
“Thank you to everyone at Dave, everyone who’s worked on the show, and especially everyone who watched it. It’s been the longest I’ve ever stayed in a job, mainly because the uniform is nicer than that of Croydon WH Smith’s.”
Joking about a potential role in Dr Who, he quipped: “I can’t tell you what’s next for me, but let’s say I’m going to be spending quite a lot of time in a phonebox. That’s right, I’m the guy who puts those sexy cards up!
“In all seriousness, thank you so much for watching me and supporting the show and I guess all that’s left to say is, ’til we meet again guys!’”
Dave said in a statement: “Nish has been an incredible host of Late Night Mash.
“We’d like to thank him for being part of the show and we look forward to working with him on more projects. The future of Late Night Mash on Dave will be decided in due course.”
The Mash Report was previously cancelled by the BBC, before renaming to Late Night Mash for Dave.
The Mash Report first started 2017, after it was inspired by the satirical news website The Daily Mash.
It ran for four series until the BBC announced the cancellation back in March this year.
The BBC said at the time: “We are very proud of The Mash Report but in order to make room for new comedy shows we sometimes have to make difficult decisions and it won’t be returning.
“We would like to thank all those involved in four brilliant series and hope to work with Nish Kumar, Rachel Parris and the team in the future.”
The revamped version of the show for Dave included eight one-hour long episodes plus a best bits compilation.
Nish told Radio Times at the time the replacement was announced: “Everybody has jumped at the chance to come back. I think that speaks to either the deep, abiding affection and professional respect we all have for each other, or the fact that we’re all fundamentally unemployable.”
He added: “Around February, [producer] Chris Stott called me and said, ‘Dave have been in contact with Zeppotron about possibly doing Mash again – would you be up for it?’ I didn’t have anything else to do, so I said yes.”
In a handwritten note tweeted by Nish, he thanked everyone who had ever worked on the show, and signed it off with “Mash forever!”