He confirmed tonight was not his last night.
"People started petitions, sent thousands of emails, tweeted, Facebooked and more.
"Seven o'clock is a brutal timeslot - Seven Sharp, Shortland Street, those lovely lunatics on The Crowd Goes Wild is tough competition."
There was also dishes to be done, homework to be supervised and washing to be folded, he said.
"But you make the effort to watch us and in doing so, you made our team feel very grateful and very proud.
"They are a great team.
"Thank you for watching us, all."
The show finished with clips from earlier episodes.
A visibly upset Lachlan Forsyth had tears in his eyes as he left the Campbell Live building tonight.
He said he was "disappointed".
"I don't really have too much to say. I'm disappointed, John's been a friend and a mentor."
About the feeling in the Campbell Live team tonight: "We put a show out, that's what we do."
He said this was not John's last show.
"We're still going, We're not over yet".
-Additional reporting Scott Yeoman
