John Oliver recounts ‘nerve-wracking’ US citizenship test: ‘I blanked on my phone number’

English-born TV host is now a dual citizen

John Oliver says he was so nervous during his US citizenship test he couldn’t remember his own phone number.

The English-born TV host, who recently became a dual citizen, detailed the process on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

In order to get his US passport, Oliver had to pass a civics test, meaning he had to answer 10 questions during a face-to-face exam.

“It’s incredibly nerve-wracking, and the first question they asked me was, ‘What is your phone number?’” Oliver recounted during his chat with Colbert.

“And I was so scared I forgot. I blanked. I swear, I blanked on my phone number.”

Things got worse, Oliver said, when the person conducting the test asked him for his social security number as a way of identifying him.

“I went, ‘I don’t know what is either. Oh, this isn’t going at all well,’” the TV host added. “So it was utterly petrifying.”

Oliver has publicly discussed his immigration status in the past, having previously talked about the anxiety he has sometimes felt as a green card holder.

“I’ve been anxious about this for a decade. It’s been like an ever-present him at the back of my mind,” he told Colbert.

He then quipped that as a dual citizen, he is now the proud holder of two passports, “like Jason Bourne”.