Jimmy Kimmel hinted his late-night talk show will come to an end after his contract expires in 2025.
“I think this is my final contract. 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 told the Los Angeles Times in a story published Tuesday.
The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host, 56, explained that preparing to host the 2024 Oscars has also added to his desire to retire.
“It’s hard to yearn for it when you’re doing it,” he told the newspaper. “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.’ But then, I take the summer off or I go on strike, and you start going, ‘Yeah, I miss the fun stuff.’”
Kimmel even reflected on what life would look like if he threw in the towel, joking that “it all involves more work.”
“I don’t know exactly what I will do,” he admitted. “It might not be anything that anyone other than me is aware of.”
The Emmy winner explained that he has “a lot of hobbies,” including cooking and drawing.
“I know that when I die, if I’m fortunate enough to die on my own terms in my own bed, I’m going to think, ‘Oh, I was never able to get to this, and I was never able to get to that.’ I just know it about myself,” he shared.
Kimmel previously talked about his inner debate over keeping the show going, and he even fessed up to wanting to end it prior to the 2023 Writers Guild Strike over the summer.
“As you know, I was very intent on retiring right around the time where the strike started,” Kimmel told fellow late-night talk show hosts on the “Strike Force Five” podcast in August.
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However, it was the strike himself that made him realize, “Oh yeah, it’s kinda nice to work.”
“I’m Tom Brady without any rings or any fingers,” Kimmel joked, referring to Tom Brady famously retiring and then un-retiring before retiring once more.
He reiterated that he was “very, very serious” about quitting at the time.
Kimmel has been hosting the popular ABC late-night talk show since 2003. He recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the show with the same guests who appeared on the very first episode.
The comedian renewed his contract with ABC in 2022 for three years.
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