Stephen Colbert Gives Health Update, Reveals He Lost 14 Pounds After His Appendix Ruptured

Stephen Colbert returned to The Late Show on Monday for the first time since November 20. The entertainer canceled several weeks of shows after suffering blood poisoning from a ruptured appendix. When he resumed his post, Colbert revealed the ordeal was as nasty as it sounds. On the plus side, though, he lost 14 pounds just by having the troublesome organ removed.

Telling Monday’s audience he didn’t know “the heap of trouble I was in” the last time he recorded his show, Colbert launched into a detailed recitation of the ordeal. He recalled doing “a great show the night before” with David Letterman as a guest, before waking up in “abdominal agony." That day, Colbert was to tape two episodes to make up for an extra day off for Thanksgiving.

“Because I am an idiot, I just said, ‘Let’s do the show,’” Colbert recalled, despite suffering “unimaginable pain.” He rallied through several segments and “a long interview with Bradley Cooper, because there’s no pain when you’re lost in those baby blues,” Colbert said of the star’s gaze.

“But the moment I was not prepared for was the cooking segment…I did with Jose Andres,” he explained. “At the end, he spontaneously grabbed me to dance with him. I don’t want to get too technical here: I was dying,” the host laughed, specifying that none of the guests or audience members knew of his condition. “Jose had no idea how I was feeling. There’s no way he could have known that at that point my insides had become what the Spanish call ‘Paella.’”

Colbert recalled leaving the studio in a feverish daze but ignored his long-time chauffeur’s insistence that he go to a hospital. Eventually, Colbert’s wife, Evie, instructed the driver to reroute against her husband’s wishes.

“Evie called me back and she said, ‘Pablo’s going to take you to the hospital, and I’m going to meet you there,’” Colbert said. “And I said, ‘That’s a really good idea,’” he concluded, as the audience cheered Evie for taking charge.

By the time he arrived at the hospital, Colbert’s appendix had already burst. “It was like they shot John Wick 5 down there,” he cracked. After thanking the doctors who removed his appendix and “cleaned everything out,” as well as his family who “filled the hole where my appendix used to be with love,” Colbert revealed a significant upside to his medical episode.

“I’d like to thank my appendix, because you giving me blood poisoning helped me lose 14 pounds," he proudly announced. "Ladies and gentlemen, you heard it here first: Appendicitis is the new Ozempic.”