James Corden reveals One Man, Two Guvnors onstage injury left him needing surgery

James Corden’s performance in One Man, Two Guvnors was career-making for the 41-year-old, who won a Tony Award for his role - but the part came with its downsides.

The play was a comical farce, with a huge amount of physical theatre, which often left Corden tumbling around the stage.

The Gavin and Stacey star played Francis Henshall in theatre production, who in one scene repeatedly hits his head with a bin lid.

This led to him injuring his eye during one performance on Broadway in 2012, he has revealed.

Speaking on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the actor explained why he had to recently cancel hosting The Late Late Show at the last minute, stating that an old eye injury had flared up again.

He said: “A few weeks ago, three weeks ago or something like that, I woke up and I couldn't open my eye, which meant I couldn't open either of my eyes. It just hurt.”

His doctor then advised Corden to get an operation as soon as possible.

“He took one look at my eye, and he said, 'We're gonna operate on it now,'" he continued. "And I said, 'But I've got a show at 5pm'. And he said, 'No, you don't.' He said, 'You don't have a show 'til the earliest next week. You've got to do this right now.”

Corden then described the squeamish ordeal, explaining how he had the unplanned eye surgery while awake.

He said: “And it's the strangest thing because you're awake, but it's numb, so you can't feel anything. But all the time I just kept going, 'Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God'.

“They clamp your eye open like A Clockwork Orange, and then you can see what they're doing, but you can't feel it because it's numb. And that was it. So, hopefully, touch wood, it's better, but we'll see.”

The actor and TV host reassured fans last week that he was “doing well and recovering” in a statement shared on his social media platforms.

Corden had been forced to take a break from filming scenes for The Late Late Show - which he has been filming from his garage during lockdown.

He wrote: “Thank you to everyone who has been watching the Late Late Shows from my garage. I’ll be back soon. Stay safe and well everybody.”