Putting his best foot forward—literally and figuratively—Colin Jost shared a comedic “foot update” on Instagram after being forced to step down from his role as an NBC correspondent covering the Olympic surfing competition in Tahiti due to a series of health issues, including a nasty foot injury.
The 42-year-old Saturday Night Live star filmed a tongue-in-cheek video from the picturesque shores of the Mediterranean Sea in Malta, where he humorously detailed his ordeal as if he were still on assignment.
“‘Dude, are you OK?’ That’s the number one text I’ve received in the past 48 hours. Usually followed by, ‘Heard your foot fell off,’” Jost quipped at the start of his video, addressing the flurry of concern from friends and fans alike.
“Well, I’m actually fine!” he reassured everyone, before diving into the punchline. “And despite what big media conspiracies would have you believe, I wasn’t ‘sent home’ from the Olympics. NBC simply looked at my foot, declared me legally a leper, and exiled me here, to the island of Malta!”
Continuing with his signature deadpan humor, Jost observed, “Now Malta doesn’t have many Olympians competing this year, but it does have thousands of 15-year-old British kids competing to see who can black out the fastest, and somehow they’re all winning. It also has this casino behind me, where I’ve blown the hundreds of dollars I’ve earned as a surfing correspondent.”
But the fun didn’t stop there. Jost riffed on Malta’s history, saying, “The real reason I’m in Malta, of course, is because it was the site of 10 separate bubonic plague outbreaks. So they thought I would fit right in.”
Jost wrapped up his update with a few more zingers, taking shots at the Olympic breakdancing competition, the fascination with feet pictures, and even NBC’s streaming service, Peacock. He ended by thanking the people of Tahiti “for their warmth, their hospitality, their generosity, and for only occasionally looking at my foot and whispering ‘Chupacabra!’”
“Rest assured,” Jost concluded, “my foot is pretty much totally fine—Even though I’m not letting you look at it. Signing off from Tahiti in Malta for the Paris Olympics, I’m Colin Jost. I will see you at the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where they have me reporting from Catalina Island.”
Jost’s light-hearted take on his injury belied the seriousness of his situation. While covering the Olympics in Tahiti, he cut his foot on a coral reef, leading to a series of unfortunate events. On July 29, he posted a picture of his bandaged and bloodied foot, joking in the caption, “You know it’s going great when you’ve been to the Olympic medical tent more than any of the athletes.”
Unfortunately, his health woes didn’t end there. The cut developed into a staph infection, and to top it off, Jost also suffered an ear infection. “I woke up this morning and discovered that I had added ear infection to my growing list of ailments,” he said in a previous video, where he was humorously lounging by a pool in Tahiti. “So I’m now on three different medications—four if you count piña coladas,” he added with a grin.
Ultimately, Jost’s condition forced him to step down from his role as NBC’s surfing competition correspondent.
He was replaced by Australian weather anchor Luke Bradnam, who was already in Tahiti covering the Olympics. Bradnam later admitted in an interview with Reuters that he hadn’t recognized Jost when they first met. “I said to one of the officials, ‘Who’s that?’ and she goes, ‘You know who he is,’” Bradnam recalled. “And I go, ‘I don’t know.’ She goes, ‘He’s married to Scarlett Johansson. He’s from Saturday Night Live,’” Bradnam added, laughing at the belated revelation.
While Colin Jost’s time at the Olympics may have been cut short, his humor and resilience continue to entertain fans, proving that no matter the circumstances, he’s always ready to put his best foot forward—even if it’s a bit worse for wear.
