Stephen Colbert is reminding the world again that his wife, Evelyn McGee-Colbert, quite literally saved his life a few weeks ago.
The “Late Show” host was hospitalized in November, after his appendix ruptured just before he taped the final episodes ahead of the show’s Thanksgiving break. Since his return to the air, he’s talked about the harrowing experience — and he shared new details about the emergency on Monday, including the heroic role his wife played.
“She saved my life,” Colbert told “Entertainment Tonight” on the red carpet for the 75th Emmy Awards.
“I had a burst appendix, and I was in a lot of pain,” he continued. “It was the last show before we took a break. And I went, ‘I’ll just go do the show anyway. I’m sure we’ll be fine.’ And by the time the show’s over, I had a 102.5 fever. I was in shock. I had blood poisoning.”
“Don’t do it, kids,” joked Colbert. “Don’t broadcast with blood poisoning!”
Colbert had previously said he had severe abdominal pain that day, but nonetheless went to work to film two episodes back to back. After interviewing Bradley Cooper and drinking tequila with celebrity chef José Andrés, his symptoms drastically worsened.
Colbert said Monday that his wife essentially forced him to seek medical attention.
“By the time I was calling her on the drive home, my teeth were chattering and my whole body was in spasms,” he told “ET.” “I was in bad shape. And I said, ‘I just wanna go home and go to bed.’ She goes, ‘I’m gonna have the driver take you to the hospital, and I’ll meet you there.’”
Colbert added that this sounded “like a good idea.”
It was. According to the National Institutes of Health, infections from a burst appendix can lead to abdominal sepsis — which reportedly has a mortality rate of 72% if left untreated.
“I kept saying, ‘What am I gonna do at home with you?’” McGee-Colbert told “ET” on Monday, recalling her husband’s initial demand to be driven home. “You know, ‘We need a hospital, we need medical care.’ Cause I can’t take care of that kind of pain.”
While Colbert cheekily downplayed the diagnosis in November and seemed to believe he’d only miss one week of work, he was ultimately in recovery for nearly three weeks.
The host returned to the air Dec. 11 and endearingly praised his wife for the world to see.