The U.S. Sun spoke with lucky ticket holders who lined up in the rain in Midtown Manhattan on Thursday for the last Late Show with Stephen Colbert, with fans coming in from all over the country, including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Detroit, Chicago, and Kansas City.

The excited crowd didn’t seem to mind the rain as they waited for the doors to open at the iconic Ed Sullivan Theatre.

One fan, former New Yorker and Vegas transplant, Amy Giovary, said she felt “very lucky” to have gotten a coveted ticket to the finale show just two days before she would need to fly into the Big Apple.

“It’s iconic, I feel like it’s gonna be so electric in there,” she said.

“It’s the end of an era, it’s historic, and if we’re out here in the rain, we obviously love him.

“I hopped on a plane. I would have paid $2 million to fly for this. I would have walked!”

A few people who spoke to The U.S. Sun, including Giovary, said that Colbert was how they processed the news of the day.

“It’s the only way I’ve been able to digest the news, so I’m very grateful for that, because it’s in a way that I can receive it, and process it in a healthy manner.”

She’s hoping to turn her routine towards Jimmy Kimmel‘s monologues for the near future, she said, adding it’s that “or hide my head in the sand for the next three years. I don’t know.”

A lot of people in line had some solid guesses – or hopes – about surprise guests on the series finale.

Olivia Zhoe from Queens, New York, landed tickets to the show, which happened to be on her birthday.

She came out with her friend, Derek Khan, who flew in from Los Angeles.

Zhoe said she thinks there’s a chance Pope Leo XIV, the first-ever American Pope, could be on Thursday’s show, because Colbert has talked about wanting him as a guest.

“That’s [Colbert’s] white whale, so we’ll see. It would be incredible,” she said.

“If it’s any Pope, it’s gonna be this one. I want that for him.”

While many suspected, or at least hoped for, the Pope as a guest, another fan suspected a more pared-down Pope experience would be more likely.

Steve Moroniak, whose birthday also coincided with Colbert’s grand finale, flew in from the pope’s hometown of Chicago with his son Matthew.

“There will be a video message from the pope, we’ll take a video message,” he suspected.

Moroniak, who said he’s seen every single episode of The Late Show and The Colbert Show, also said he was hoping for Paul McCartney as a guest.

“Nobody truly knows, but I think that would be fun. And honestly, I like the fact that they kept it a surprise, because I like that element of surprise, and not knowing, the anticipation helps, and it makes it more enjoyable. So, I’m glad they did that.”

The father-son duo were first in line, and had been standing in their spots since just before lunchtime, as they awaited the doors opening at 2:45pm.

Kelly Lauberth flew in from Kansas City, though she was already in the city for other reasons this week.

She hoped to see someone presidential.

“I’m hoping for Obama, but I don’t think he’s coming, and the Pope, obviously, because that’s what [Colbert] wants,” she said.

In the weeks leading up to Colbert’s grand finale, he’s had a slew of notable guests, including fellow former Late Show host David Letterman, Steven Spielberg, Bruce Springsteen, and Tom Hanks.

However, during Wednesday night’s show, he had one very special guest on for a very important reason.

Chef José Andrés came on, and Colbert presented him with a nearly $2.5million check for the World Central Kitchen.

“If you, much like the FCC, have been paying close attention to my show, then you know we’ve been auctioning off all kinds of great Late Show memorabilia and selling commemorative The Last Show T-shirts, all to raise money for the international aid organization, World Central Kitchen,” Colbert said.

“And I’m excited to say that we got a great response on all of our auctions. And here to accept our donation is the founder of World Central Kitchen. Please welcome Chef José Andrés, everybody.

“José, we want to give you our donation on, you know, one of those giant checks, but it’s hard to find a bank that will cash one of those.

“So, instead, we have decided to present our donation tonight on the world’s smallest check. And it’s too small to read anything on the check, so I will instead now slip it underneath a microscope.”

CBS gave the green light for Thursday’s show to be an extended finale at the absolute last minute.

Executive producer Barbara Gaines shared that the crew was in a mad dash, racing against the clock to lock in the final cut right before the 11:35 p.m. broadcast.

But this scheduling move feels a lot more intentional than a simple last-minute scramble. It makes sense, considering CBS is completely shelving the franchise instead of just swapping out the host.

The finale is already guaranteed to pull in massive ratings, especially since the rest of the late-night lineup is taking the night off.

The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Late Night with Seth Meyers are all going dark.