Hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live! as a fill-in has gotten Chelsea Handler wanting to introduce her own new talk show to late night television. This week, Handler has been serving as guest host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and it's a role she had no issues with given her decades of hosting experience. Handler, who wrapped up her Netflix talk show Chelsea in 2017, has made it clear that she wants to stay on late night television after she's finished with guest hosting Kimmel and feels that now is the best time for her to launch her own late night talk show on broadcast television.

In a new interview with Variety, Handler explains that there's not a lot of diversity in the realm of late night television. She notes that even if a "white guy" is on their side, she considers it to be a problem that late night TV is so populated with them. Handler says that it's important to have a woman representing women, as no man can truly understand their experiences.

“I feel like this is a time where it’s so important to be represented and to be representing women and to remind people why it’s so important to be loud and to be strong and to be indefatigable about it and to get up and say something. It gives a lot of people comfort when they have somebody speaking for them — you know, not just a white guy, who I’m sure is on our side, but it’s just different. There’s really nobody that can experience what it’s like to be a woman other than one of us. So having anybody else comment on that, white men’s opinions are pretty irrelevant."

Previously, Handler hosted Chelsea Lately on E! from 2007 to 2011. She believes that this made a difference at the time, but feels disappointed that more than a decade since leaving that show, there still aren't any women hosting a major talk show on broadcast television. Ultimately, she says there are "too many white men" in that role.

"It’s the same white man problem. There are too many white men doing the same job. I can’t explain why there aren’t more women hosting shows — maybe it’s a lack of interest, but I doubt it. I think that people think it’s a man’s job. I thought I made a real dent by doing my show and proving to people that you can be a woman and host a late night show, but it seems like people need to be reminded one more time. And I might be that person to remind them.”

Related: All of Chelsea Handler's Talk Shows and Documentaries, Ranked

Chelsea Handler Wants to Reboot Chelsea Lately on Late Night TV

chelsea-2016-netflix
Netflix

As excited as she is to host her own late night talk show, Chelsea Handler says she hasn't had any official conversations at this time. It's still in the very early process, but she adds that she is taking it very seriously and fully intends to move forward with these plans to produce the best show she possibly could.

"We haven’t had conversations yet. We’re just starting to talk about it in a more serious manner, and I feel like I’m at a place in my life where I’ve had the time to really reflect and understand what my toolset is and what my strengths are and how I perform in that environment. I know that that is my skill set, so I am taking it more seriously and am considering it on a more serious level."

So, what would her potential talk show be like? Ideally, Handler envisions Chelsea Later, a new version of Chelsea Lately. She also wants to use the platform to showcase comedians she feels otherwise wouldn't get a shot at stardom.

"I think I would like to reboot Chelsea Lately as Chelsea Later. There are just too many great, talented comedians that are coming up that I want to give a voice to, and there’s just an overabundance of straight white guys over a certain age that get a lot of props in this medium. We have a bunch of talk shows, but we need the format that really brings joy and can take the p*ss out of everything that’s going on politically and culturally. We have to have a sounding board for that, and that person is me."