Chelsea Handler explains her 'allergy' to current slate of late-night shows

Chelsea Handler is paving her own way in late-night television — and not just because she’s a woman.

The star, whose new Netflix talk show Chelsea debuts on May 11, told PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly editorial director Jess Cagle recently that she easily decided against throwing her name in the ring for one of the previously up-for-grab network late night hosting positions (like The Late Late Show).

“It’s flattering, but you know what? I was so sick of being asked the question, ‘What is it like to be a female in late night?’ that I wanted to take that question out of the equation,” she explained. “Now I’m the only person in history that has a talk show that’s launching in 190 countries, so the question isn’t about me being a woman anymore. It’s about being the first person to do that on this scale.”

Handler told Cagle she always goes by her gut, and that her “gut was never directing” her toward taking over someone like Craig Ferguson’s job. She also isn’t exactly a fan of the current spectrum of programming — part of her motivation to create a new format with Chelsea.

“I think there’s a lot of sameness. Everyone has their own kind of franchise bit that they do that separates them, but all in all, the package is the same,” she said. “It starts the same and it ends the same every single night on all of those shows, and that’s something that I just have an allergy to.”

In fact, Handler doesn’t even like any of the shows. While she has high praise for their hosts (“I love Jimmy [Fallon]… I love James Corden. I love Conan [O’Brien]”), Handler said she isn’t a viewer.

“I don’t know who the best is because I would have to watch the shows to find out, so I don’t know. I like those guys. Jimmy, I like a lot. Jimmy Fallon, and he’s done an amazing job,” said Handler, 41. “He took that boring, kind of stale environment, and he’s the one who made everybody else step up their game because now everyone’s got to have something.”

Handler isn’t quite sure that she’s host material, herself, however: “I’m terrible at hosting. That’s my problem. I can talk and have interviews, but I’m not a host in that sense.”

She added, “For somebody like me who doesn’t have any qualms about talking about myself or personal stuff, or I’m not trying to present some image that it’s not true to who I am, then that’s easy. I love to talk.”

Watch the full Jess Cagle interview below:

Chelsea premieres May 11 on Netflix.