It's official: Nikki Glaser will return to host the 2026 Golden Globes

Nikki Glaser had a clear plan when preparing to host the 2025 Golden Globes, and it worked very well.

Although it was reported in January that the 40-year-old comedian would return to host the awards show (with a pay bump), it's now officially official. CBS and the Golden Globes made the announcement on Thursday.

"Hosting the Golden Globes this year was without a doubt the most fun I have ever had in my career," Glaser said in a statement. "I can’t wait to do it again, and this time in front of the team from The White Lotus, who will finally recognize my talent and cast me in Season Four as a Scandinavian Pilates instructor with a shadowy past."

Glaser was widely praised for her hosting duties at the Jan. 5 event — so much so that the Globes will reportedly increase her pay. The comedian previously revealed that she had received less compensation than the 2023 host, Jerrod Carmichael, but was "all right" with that.

Before the awards show, Glaser told Yahoo Entertainment that she wanted to set a certain tone early in the evening with her opening monologue.

"These people do deserve respect," she said of celebrities in the audience, going on to explain that she didn't intend to "kiss ass" onstage throughout the show.

Glaser was funny but stayed within bounds. Her approach was clearly a hit.

Glaser to return for 2026 Golden Globes

Deadline reported in January that the comedian, barring "a global calamity," would host next year. A source added that Glaser received $400,000 for this year's show, and that the figure would "significantly" increase.

Glaser apparently inked a three-year deal with the Globes ahead of the 2025 show, and according to the report, she had the support both internally and (certainly) on social media to be brought back.

What have other hosts made?

When Carmichael was tapped to host the scandal-plagued event in 2023, he revealed in his opening monologue that he was paid $500,000. Glaser recalled the figure but said she had no hard feelings she didn't get the same fee.

"There was a past host who said how much he got paid in his monologue, and I got less than that, but that's OK," Glaser said on The Howard Stern Show on Jan. 6. "I'll get more next year."

Glaser explained she would have done the first time for "free."

"I feel well paid for what I do," she added. "I'm all right."

For what it's worth, other awards shows — like the Oscars — don't pay anywhere near those figures. Jimmy Kimmel revealed in March he was paid $15,000 to host.

"I think even most people would go, like, 'Wait, how many months of work is this, for $15,000?'" he said on CBS Sunday Morning.

Conan O'Brien is hosting this year's Oscars.

Glaser put in the work

Glaser really prepared for January's show, and it paid off. She explained to Yahoo Entertainment that she wasn't going to "go so hard" at celebrities "that anyone's gonna be offended. I've made a point not to."

"I don't think they should be nervous," she told Yahoo. "I would say, just come ready to laugh."

Laugh they did. Glaser's opening monologue was well-received in the room, although her Diddy line had some people squirming. Overall, the stars, Timothée Chalamet, Glen Powell, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco among them, were good sports when they were called out.

Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss, who produced this year's show, praised Glaser for "putting in the work."

"She was doing literally, four or five shows a night in L.A. and other cities for three weeks to get ready for this. And she tested out a lot of the jokes and knew what worked and what didn’t work, and her team went to her and said, 'Oh, that joke will work here, or won't, or maybe it’s too inside, only the people in the room will get it, that people at home won’t get it,'" Kirshner told The Hollywood Reporter.

"[Glaser] honed it down to the ones that work," Kirshner continued, "and that’s why she did a great job, and then she hit us with a couple of curveballs along the way, but that was fine, too. They wound up being funny, like 'Pope-ular.'" He was referring to a bit where Glaser launched into a song, and then cut it off, responding to what appeared to be a comment in her earpiece that the shtick wasn't landing.

Will Glaser go harder next year?

We'll find out, but Glaser said she wasn't going to pull a Ricky Gervais during her first year.

"This isn't my last Golden Globes. This is my first one. He really went hard on his last one. He was ready to burn some bridges. It didn't matter anymore," Glaser recalled to Yahoo. "I'm not gonna kiss up there the whole time by any means, [but] I am doing what I was hired to do."