Lilly Singh Discusses Representation in Late Night on Variety Streaming Room

Lilly Singh, host of NBC’s “A Little Late With Lilly Singh,” joined the NAB Show Executive Leadership Summit, produced in partnership with the Variety Streaming Room, to discuss the first season of her show and representation in late-night television.

Singh, who was a successful YouTuber before transitioning to late-night, wrapped the first season of “A Little Late” in December and is already gearing up for Season 2. Singh said she has learned from her insanely busy first season — she filmed 96 episodes in just three months — that it is best to delegate, even if that means losing control.

“I’m definitely going to try and delegate more in Season 2, but I still think, by nature, I’m a pretty hands-on person. My name is in the show title,” Singh said. “It’s my point of view that I’m sharing, which I believe is an extremely valuable and unique point of view in the late-night space.”

As the first female, bisexual and Indian late-night host, representation has proved extremely important to Singh’s voice as a host — though she doesn’t want to be completely defined by it.

“On one hand, I feel like I’m so much more than all these hyphenates. But, on the other hand, my point of view is so influenced by those hyphenates. So it’s kind of this weird pattern of being defined by it and not being defined by it,” Singh said. “My solution is to truly just be myself. Everything is from my point of view, and my point of view happens to be those hyphenates.”