Trevor Noah recalls struggle to fill audience in ‘The Daily Show’ farewell

Trevor Noah hosted his final episode on The Daily Show on Thursday (December 8). The comedian took a few minutes to thank fans and the ‘brilliant’ Black women during his final sign-off from the show.

Noah, who ended his seven-year run as host of the long-running Comedy Central show, paid tribute to Black women in his life, whom he says have shaped his ideas.

The TV host also recalled his early days as the host of the popular show and detailed the struggle when it took him time to find enough people to fill up the audience.

"I'm grateful to you, every single one of you," Noah said in a clip released ahead of the airing of his final show. “I remember when we started the show, we couldn’t get enough people to fill an audience.”

Noah shared that comedy too was hard and in his initial days as a comedian, he was used to seeing empty seats at his shows. He said that because of these experiences he never took the audience for granted.

“Every seat that has ever been filled to watch something that I’m doing, I always appreciate ’cause I know the empty seat that sits behind it, so thank you,” he continued.

"Thank you to the people who watch, the people who share the clips, everyone who’s had an opinion, everyone who’s been kind enough and gracious enough."

Noah also thanked his harshest critics saying, "We still got the ratings."

In a segment, the South African comedian, 38, gave a “special shout out to black women,” saying, “I've often been credited with having these grand ideas. People say, "Oh Trevor, you're so smart." I'm like, "Who do you think teaches me? Who do you think shaped me, nourished me and formed me?" 'From my mom, my grand[mom], my aunt, all these black women in my life, but in America as well.”

“I tell people if you want to truly learn about America, talk to black women cause, unlike everybody else, black women can't afford to [expletive] around and find out.”