“Jimmy Kimmel Live” made a splash on its very first night (Tuesday) in its new time slot — at 11:35 PM — coming in second in the ratings. And on Friday morning, the late night host revealed it brought him an unexpected surprise — gifts from celebrities.
“I did get a lot of stuff, I have to say. I have a lot of thank you notes to write,” Jimmy said in response to a question from AccessHollywood.com, on Friday on a press visit to his El Capitan Theatre set in Hollywood. “That’s one of the hidden bonuses, I got a beautiful — I have to say, I got a beautiful bouquet of roses from Gwen Stefani. Like even the guys that come up to my office are, ‘Woah! Those are beautiful! They’re unbelievable.’”
He also heard from a longtime friend of the show.
“A lot of people. My ex-boyfriend, Ben Affleck,” Jimmy said of who got in touch, referencing an old skit from his show, where he and Ben pretended to date.
Despite the good ratings news, the late night funnyman shrugged off his first night numbers on Tuesday, which saw him come second in the ratings, behind Jay Leno, and ahead of Letterman.
“The first show, we expected to do well. It doesn’t mean anything. It really doesn’t. I wish it did, but it really doesn’t,” he said in response to a question from Access. “There have been times when we’ve beaten ‘Tonight Show,’ ‘Late Show’ before. It’s not the first time it happened.
“It will be a long time before we celebrate,” he added. “In fact, there’s just been so much work to do, I haven’t had a moment to even think about this stuff. We’ve been getting up a little earlier, and everything’s just a little different and it takes some time for the staff to adjust to that. It’s a weird thing, but it’s not easy.”
Jimmy actually beat both hosts in the coveted 18-49 demo on Thursday night, according to a release ABC sent out on Friday. But he suggested it won’t last.
“I think, ultimately, we’ll wind up being the No. 3 talk show,” he told reporters. “I mean, these are shows that have been on for a long time. ‘The Tonight Show’ — you really can’t discount the legacy that ‘The Tonight Show’ has and how ingrained it is in Americans and their habits. No. 3 is fine with me… Yeah, we were No. 1 last night, but don’t get used to it.”
In related Kimmel news, he revealed Matt Damon, who has appeared over the years in skits with the late night host (and who Jimmy notes at the end of the show he never has time for) will finally sit down for an interview on the program on January 24.
Additionally, Jimmy confirmed he is working on another post-Oscars special.
— Jolie Lash
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