Stephen Colbert could have served as a guest host on Jimmy Kimmel Live this summer!
The 62-year-old comedian’s own late-night talk show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, came to an end back in May, and he was offered a spot during Jimmy Kimmel‘s annual summer hiatus.
During a new interview, Jimmy confirmed that he did ask Stephen to be a guest host this summer, but he turned it down.
“Of course, I asked him, and I think it feels premature,” Jimmy told Variety. “But I told him, ‘Anytime you want to host, it doesn’t matter if it’s the summer, I’ll gladly step aside.”
While Stephen turned it down, the list of guest hosts this summer includes Tiffany Haddish, Colman Domingo, Jelly Roll, Anthony Anderson, and more.
Jimmy also addressed a boost in ratings for Jimmy Kimmel Live after The Late Show ended.
“The ratings are very strong, which we are very grateful to CBS for their wisdom,” he told Variety. “We were doing pretty well before that, but that really helped.”
To note, JKL went up 17% in viewers in May, and up 109% in adults 18 to 49, marking its best in the demo in six years.
“It’s silly how people go wild about a podcast that’s No. 5, and the numbers still don’t even compare to a television show,” Jimmy added. “There’s still a lot of people watching late night television, and I include the other shows in that. And there are still a lot of people looking at our shows on YouTube the next day, and there’s a lot of people who are interested in what we have to say. They may just may not necessarily be watching it on their TV, but it seems like a little bit of people are coming back to their old friend television.”
If you missed it, Jimmy‘s sidekick on the late-night show, Guillermo Rodriguez, has an exciting new TV opportunity!
Posted To:Jimmy Kimmel jimmy kimmel live Stephen Colbert Television