James Corden has defended rival talk show host Jimmy Fallon over “unfair” criticism of his interview with US President Donald Trump.

The Late, Late Show host said no one took Trump “to task” during the US election campaign, as he revealed he planned a game to grill the Republican on his controversial comments.

Jimmy was criticised for failing to ask tough questions when Trump appeared on The Tonight Show in September, which saw the comedian playfully messing up the tycoon’s hair at the end of the interview.

James Corden (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
James Corden (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Appearing at PaleyFest TV Festival in Los Angeles, James said Jimmy had faced “quite a lot of criticism” that was “really unfair”.

“I don’t think anyone asked him the right questions,” he said.

“I don’t think anyone took him to task or asked the questions that were needed.”

James refused to say whether he would invite the US president to appear as a guest on his US chat show, but he described a game he wanted to play on the programme with Trump before his election victory, called “Stand By It Or Take It Back”.

The British star said: “I would read things Donald Trump had said on the campaign trail and you’ve got two panels, you can stand by it or take it back.

“If you take it back, it’s taken back forever. If you stand by it, you’ve got to tell me why. I felt like that was such a good game.”

Donald Trump.
Donald Trump (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

James also recalled bringing Trump on stage during the Broadway run of the One Man, Two Guvnors play in 2012.

“I spanked him, I got him lifting up stuff, I fired him, it was great,” he said.