South African comedian Trevor Noah, 31, has been named as Jon Stewart’s replacement on the popular news satire The Daily Show.

The New York Times reported that Noah’s arrival in the hosting chair is not yet scheduled, but Stewart announced he would step down on February 10, 2016.

Stewart is stepping away from the show but has flagged he might return in future as a guest, “just to be a part of it!!!”.

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Noah was in disbelief upon hearing the news. “You don’t believe it for the first few hours,” he said, speaking in Dubai while performing.

“You need a stiff drink, and then unfortunately you’re in a place where you can’t really get alcohol,” he said.

He quickly shifted on twitter from praising the desert country’s rollercoasters to tweeting the news.

No-one can replace Jon Stewart. But together with the amazing team at The Daily Show, we will continue to make this the best damn news show!

— Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) March 30, 2015

Thank you president Obama pic.twitter.com/PgFJCCyRTa

— Chris Rock (@chrisrock) March 30, 2015