YouTube star Lilly Singh, a vlogger with more than 14 million subscribers on the popular social platform, will be taking over the NBC late-night slot currently held by Carson Daly. When her show, “A Little Late With Lilly Singh,” debuts in September, she is expected to be the only woman and only LGBTQ person hosting a late-night show on one of the big four broadcast networks.
Singh, 30, made the big announcement Thursday during an appearance on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
“Your girl is getting her own NBC late-night show,” Singh told the audience, which erupted with applause. “And to clarify, it’s not Jimmy’s slot.”
“A huge shoutout to all the women who have been before me and are currently in the space, because I couldn’t have done it without them paving the path,” she added.
Singh, who is Indian-Canadian, has been producing YouTube videos since 2010. Her videos, which include everything from music video parodies to rants about dating apps and jean pockets, amass millions of views.
While Singh has been in the public eye for nearly a decade, she only just came out publicly as bisexual last month. In a Feb. 24 Twitter post, Singh said she’s “fully embracing” her sexuality as one of her “superpowers.”
GLAAD, a national LGBTQ media advocacy group, highlighted the significance of Singh’s work - both past and future.
“With her millions of YouTube and social followers, the importance of Lilly’s unapologetic visibility as a bisexual woman of color cannot be underscored enough,” GLAAD said in a statement shared with NBC News. “Lilly is a beacon of hope and a role model to countless young LGBTQ people, and her new role on late-night will serve to inspire countless more.”
