Chat show king Craig Ferguson in line for £3m payout

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THE former stand-up comic has a contract which guarantees him David Letterman's job - or a huge bonus if someone else gets it.

Craig Ferguson

CHAT show king Craig Ferguson could be in line for a £3million payday - if he DOESN'T get one of the biggest jobs on US TV.

Late-night legend David Letterman is retiring and Ferguson, from Cumbernauld and formerly the stand-up comic Bing Hitler, has been promised his sofa - or a bumper payout if someone else gets it.

A clause in The Late Late Show host's contract guarantees him Letterman's job when the long-serving US chat show host retires.

It means if Ferguson isn't offered the Late Show job, his bosses at CBS would need to buy out his contract by giving him a pay-off of more than £3million, according to reports in New York.

Letterman shocked his audience when he announced on Thursday that he would switch off his mike for the final time next year after 32 years in the business.

Craig on Letterman show

The CBS presenter, 66, said: 'The man who owns this network, Leslie Moonves, he and I have had a relationship for years and we have had this conversation in the past and we agreed we would work together on this circumstance.

'And I phoned him and I said, 'Leslie, it's been great, you've been great and the network has been great but I'm retiring.'

'We don't have the timetable for this precisely down - I think it will be at least a year or so, but sometime in the not too distant future - 2015 for the love of God.'

Speculation has been rife about who will take over from the popular host - but 51-year-old Ferguson remains a firm favourite.

He has been on after the Late Show for nine years - and both programmes are produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants.

Craig Ferguson and his wife Megan

Other rumoured contenders include How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris, The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert and Birmingham-born John Oliver, who is best known for his work on The Daily Show.

Since becoming the host of The Late Late Show in 2005, Ferguson has achieved the highest ratings since the programme started in 1995.

The comedian turned chat show host has won acclaim for the way in which he mixes humour with serious issues.

He paid a hugely moving on-screen tribute to his father after his death and was also praised for an interview with South African Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu.

Ferguson, who moved to New York in 1983, became a US citizen in 2008.

THE Glasgow outfit have signed on to play popular Scots comic Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show every night next week on CBS after a one-off performance on the talk show earlier this week.

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