Jimmy Kimmel On The Pressures Of Moving His Late Night Show Opposite Jay Leno, David Letterman

“Jimmy Kimmel Live” will officially begin squaring off in the late night game against Jay Leno and David Letterman on Tuesday, when the ABC show moves to an 11:35 PM start time, and Jimmy admitted he’s feeling the pressure.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself whether it’s moving to 11:35 or hosting a charity event in front of 14 people or making a toast at a wedding, I feel that same pressure,” he told Access Hollywood on Monday. “Everything is a hurdle that I feel like I have to clear and I always try to be as prepared for these situations as I possibly can.”

One way Jimmy hopes to impress viewers in his big time slot move is by bringing in some big names for his first night at the new time.

“Jennifer Aniston and No Doubt are our first show,” Jimmy said, before turning his talk to guests lined up for the first few weeks.

“Ryan Gosling, who’s, you know, dreamy. And Ray Romano, Ellen DeGeneres, Bruno Mars… We have a very solid start planned,” he added.

“Promised Land” star Matt Damon, however, may not appear in the line up.

“We may run out of time for Matt Damon. We always seem to run out of time for him. It’s just bad planning on our part,” he laughed, referring to his usual exit line, where Jimmy apologizes for not having enough time to fit the actor on the program.

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The late night host is excited about the move. He told Access he had long hoped to occupy the timeslot, and to this day, he’s still not sure how the move happened.

“I was hoping that we’d get moved to 11:35, but I certainly wasn’t counting on it,” he told Access. “All of a sudden, one day, I don’t know if somebody was visited by a genie or a mafia thug, but they called me and said, ‘OK, we’re gonna do this.’”

“Jimmy Kimmel Live” premieres in its new time of 11:35 PM on Tuesday, January 8, on ABC.

Jolie Lash

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