From the outside, being a late-night show host seems like a dream job. In addition to meeting all the biggest celebrities in the world, comedians have the world stage to make viewers laugh and be entertained every single night. The reality, however, isn’t all it’s cut out to be.
In a recent interview, Jimmy Kimmel Live! host Jimmy Kimmel opened up about the ups and downs of the job, and why he might be getting ready to say goodbye.
“I think this is my final contract,” he told L.A. Times. “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.”
According to the outlet, Kimmel, who has pondered retirement before, felt a newfound energy after taking a break from hosting during the SAG-AFTRA strike in 2023. “It’s hard to yearn for it when you’re doing it,” Kimmel, who will be hosting the Oscars next month, admitted.
“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,” Kimmel said. “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.'”
And while Kimmel can’t say for certain that this contract is his last, he’s already thinking of what his retirement life could look like. “He is very accomplished,” Kimmel said of his future self. “He speaks Italian, he plays the harmonica beautifully. He is an expert fly-fisherman. He does all these different things that I know I’m not actually going to do. He’s drawn some graphic novels that were very well-received.”
“He’s very busy — it’s funny, whenever I think of what I’m going to do when I stop working, it all involves more work,” Kimmel jokingly added. “I don’t know exactly what I will do. It might not be anything that anyone other than me is aware of. I have a lot of hobbies — I love to cook, I love to draw, I imagine myself learning to do sculptures.”
Most of all, it seems like Kimmel wants to tick all the bucket list items he’s never had a chance to do because of his demanding job. “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 said. May he get the chance to do it all!
Before you go, click here to see celebrities who have returned to acting or singing after retiring.
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