John Oliver paid tribute to his staff as he picked up the Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Talk Series on Sunday (20.09.20).
The 42-year-old presenter beat off competition from shows by the ceremony’s host, Jimmy Kimmel, as well as Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah and Samantha Bee to scoop the accolade for his own ‘Last Week Tonight’, and heralded the efforts of his production team for ensuring the show could continue from his home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
He said: "All of thise variety shows, we’ve all been fortunate to do our shows and not stop during this pandemic and it’s only because of our staff and how hard they have worked.
"None of us are technically gifted, they’ve done incredible things. When they first set up our studio they had to talk to me across Zoom as if I was a passenger on a plane with a pilot who had passed out."
And John also praised the efforts of his wife Kate while working from home.
He continued: "I’d like to thank HBO for supporting us, my wife Kate, I love you very much, she’s done my make-up, kept a four and two year old out as I tried to do this show.
"Thank you so much for this, thank you again to my staff, I haven’t seen them in six months and I can’t wait until we’re in the same space together whenever that is.
"Thanks to all the other hosts and their staff."
Earlier in the week, John’s show scooped the Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series accolade for the fifth year in a row, and the British star thanked organisers for making the ceremony virtual.
He said: "I’d like to thank my writers, obviously, who work incredibly hard all year round and this year has been particularly challenging," he said. "I’d like to thank the Emmys for not holding the Emmys in person this year because of the, you know, thing. Thank you, we will cherish it forever."