Stephen Colbert Didn't Want to Take His Show to Russia

Stephen Colbert shows his abs on the cover on InStyle‘s September issue, available August 11th.

Here’s what the 53-year-old television personality had to share with the mag:

On his trip to Russia: “I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t want to do that’…There’s enough pressure with these jobs. You know, I kind of like doing theater, doing my monologue, talking with guests, going home, having an old-fashioned, eating some cashews, and watching Anderson Cooper with my wife.”

On dealing with his mental health early in his career: “In my late 20s, early 30s, I had a nervous breakdown. I was subject to panic attacks and stuff like that except when I was onstage. I would curl up in a ball on a couch backstage, and then I’d hear my cue coming up, and I would uncurl, go onstage, do the show, and then go offstage and curl up again.”

On how he feels about his show’s impact: “Today you’ll feel better, but these shows are cotton candy dropping in water, and I don’t pretend otherwise. I used to joke to Jon [Stewart] that we are shouting jokes into an Altoids can and throwing them off an overpass. Nobody remembers.”

For more from Stephen, visit InStyle.com.