FOX L-R: Ken Jeong and Joel McHale are teaming up to “Toast & Roast” all that was 2020 during the most anticipated New Year’s Eve of all time!
There are some new faces hosting FOX’s New Year’s Eve special. This year, Steve Harvey is out and two new comedians are in. Here’s what you need to know about the hosts and performers for FOX’s New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast special.
The Hosts
Comedians and friends Joel McHale and Ken Jeong have been tapped to host FOX’s New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast. The two previously co-starred on the NBC sitcom Community.
Jeong and McHale will “commemorate the past year from coast-to-coast with a live, three-and-a-half-hour ‘Toast & Roast’ to 2020,” according to FOX’s press release.
It continues, “Live from Los Angeles, CA, Jeong and McHale will bring their signature comedic hosting style, as the former Community stars, hosts of “The Darkest Timeline” podcast and longtime friends reunite to help ring in the New Year with a special dedicated to the highs and lows of 2020, specifically celebrating those that helped to make the world a better place this past year.”
“Ken and Joel together are one of the funniest duos out there,” said Rob Wade, President, Alternative Entertainment & Specials, FOX Entertainment, in a statement when he announced the new hosts. “These two have been toasting and roasting each other on national television for years, so they were the perfect pair to ring in the New Year.”
The FOX New Year’s Eve special was hosted by Steve Harvey from 2017 to 2020; before that, FOX aired Pitbull’s New Year’s Revolution from 2014 to 2017.
The Performers
Joining McHale and Jeong is LeAnn Rimes, the recently crowned winner of The Masked Singer season three. There will also be an “intimate studio performance” by Gloria Estefan and a special tribute performance by Doctor Elvis that goes out to all of the healthcare workers nationwide.
Additionally, there will be performances by Ava Max, Gabby Barrett, Green Day and John Legend, plus special celebrity appearances by Cheyenne Jackson, Jane Krakowski, Leslie Jordan, Mayim Bialik, Morris Chestnut, Randy Jackson, Tim Allen, and Tom Payne.
In a recent interview with PopCulture, McHale said that the special is going to be a “blast” because he and Jeong have such easy chemistry.
“I think with us — me ridiculing him and him to me on The Masked Singer and I Can See Your Voice, and our podcast and stuff — I think that kind of established the language that we speak to each other — and that language is German,” McHale cracked. “[But] yeah, so when we got the call to do it, I think Ken pitched [the FOX special] — so thank you, Ken — and it seemed really fun, and I think it’ll be a blast. It’ll be totally unprofessional, but it’ll be a blast.”
McHale also said they will definitely get a few shots in at each other, telling the blog, “Ken and I have made fun of each other since the moment we met each other. I would say the roasting part is the easiest because he’s a very powerful human being and you have to go after the most powerful parts of things. I think he would say the same thing. He loves roasting me as opposed to toasting me — that doesn’t even sound like something we’d ever do.”
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