Daily Show Has Its New Host

Those who called for "not another straight white male" to succeed Jon Stewart at the helm of The Daily Show are getting their wish: Trevor Noah, a biracial South African comedian, will be the next host. Noah's first appearance on the show was in December, and the 31-year-old has appeared just two other times since, the New York Times reports. Comedy Central will make the official announcement today. "You don't believe it for the first few hours," Noah told the Times—while in Dubai for a comedy tour. "You need a stiff drink, and then unfortunately you're in a place where you can't really get alcohol."

As for Stewart, he says in a statement he's so "thrilled" about the choice that he "may rejoin [the show] as a correspondent just to be a part of it!!!" Noah, who has already hosted a late-night talk show in South Africa, first emerged as the rumored front-runner on Friday, the Huffington Post reports. It's not yet clear when the transition will take place, though Variety says it's expected sometime between July and the end of the year. Some critics, the Times notes, still wonder why the network didn't choose a woman; the president says, "We talked to women. We talked to men. We found in Trevor the best person for the job." (Click for more videos of Noah or five interesting facts about him.)