Jimmy Kimmel Wanted To Retire Before the Writer’s Strike

Jimmy Kimmel was ready to hang up his late-night hosting gig before the Writers Guild began striking. Per the Hollywood Reporter, the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host shared the revelation with fellow late-night hosters Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver and Seth Meyers. The 55-year-old has been hosting the late-night program since 2003. For 20 years, Kimmel has entertained audiences with hilarious segments, including "Mean Tweets" and his Halloween candy pranks on kids.

Kimmel said he was "very intent on retiring," but has since realized, "Oh yeah, it’s kind of nice to work. You know when you are working, you think about not working." Meyers, who hosts Late Night With Seth Meyers, told Kimmel in response, "C’mon, you are the Tom Brady of late night. You have feigned retirement. Are we to take you at your word?" Kimmel doubled down and said he was "very, very serious." The writer and producer added that he likes getting the summer off from his show each year, but he likes it better when he’s "getting paid" to do so.

Despite the writer's and actors' strikes, Kimmel signed a three-year extension of his Emmy-nominated show last year. This made Kimmel one of the longest-tenured talk show hosts in late-night television. Johnny Carson is still the longest-serving late-show host to date, from 1962 to 1992. His successor, Jay Leno, put in 21 years. Meanwhile, David Letterman was on late-night for 22 years. Conan O'Brien hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years. At the time of his extension news, Kimmel joked in a statement: "After two decades at ABC, I am now looking forward to three years of what they call 'quiet quitting.'"

Late-night shows have been off since the writer's strike began in early May, but this isn't the first time Kimmel wasn't working due to a strike. Back in 2007 to 2008, late-night shows went dark and were replaced with reruns.