Kimmel Leaving Late Night: Interview Hints Exactly When Host Will End His Talk Show Career
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
In a recent interview, comedian Jimmy Kimmel suggested exactly when he’ll be ending his career as the host of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
If Kimmel’s comment pans out, he’ll be retiring as soon as he’s able.
“I think this is my final contract,” Kimmel told the Los Angeles Times on Feb. 20.
“I hate to even say it, because everyone’s laughing at me now — each time I think that, and then it turns out to be not the case. I still have a little more than two years left on my contract, and that seems pretty good. That seems like enough.”
Kimmel does, in fact, have only two years left on his contract, according to the Times.
Earlier in the interview, the host lamented the monotonous work that goes into producing each and every show.
“It’s hard to yearn for it when you’re doing it,” Kimmel said.
“Wednesday night, I was very tired and I had all these scripts to go through — I had to revise and rewrite all these pitch ideas for the Oscars — and I was literally nodding off onto my computer. In those moments, I think, ‘I cannot wait until my contract is over,'” he said.
The comedian then quickly added that he still enjoys the show very much — or at least, he enjoys doing the “fun stuff” that comes with it.
Like a man who’s got his eyes very much on retirement, the 56-year-old Kimmel then went over all the hobbies he looks forward to engaging in once he has the time.
They include cooking, drawing, sculpting, playing harmonica, fly fishing and learning Italian.
Suffice it to say, it seems as though he’s been pondering retirement for quite some time.
Previously, Kimmel had mentioned on the podcast “Strike Force Five” that he had been considering an exit from late night, per the Times.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” hasn’t exactly been the highest-rated show in recent years.
According to Fox News, as Kimmel and other late-night hosts chose to become more political, using their shows to be critical of right-wing figures such as former President Donald Trump, those shows’ ratings have tanked.
In 2016, Kimmel’s show garnered an average of 2.2 million viewers.
By 2022, that number had plummeted to 1.5 million.
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