COVID Revisits Late-Night TV

Jimmy Kimmel says he's tested positive and picks a guest host
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted May 2, 2022 6:02 PM CDT
Jimmy Kimmel to Miss Shows With COVID
Jimmy Kimmel and his wife, Molly McNearney, arrive at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on April 24 in Washington.   (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

No sooner does one late-night TV host return from a bout with COVID-19 than another has to take his leave. Jimmy Kimmel announced Monday that he's got the coronavirus, Deadline reports. "Our daughter brought us covid (even though we specifically asked her not to)," he tweeted, adding that everyone feels fine. Mike Birbiglia, a comedian who was scheduled to be a guest Monday on the ABC show, instead will host beginning Tuesday, until Kimmel, who said he's vaccinated and boosted, returns.

Birbiglia may have been the last to know of his temporary job. "I must be the first person to ever deplane a Southwest Airlines flight and find out they’re guest-hosting a late night talk show," he tweeted. Over on CBS, Stephen Colbert was scheduled to return Monday as host of The Late Show after testing positive and missing shows, per the Hill. Seth Meyers missed a week of NBC's Late Night in January because of the virus. COVID-19 also temporarily knocked out the host of The Late Late Show with James Corden. (More Jimmy Kimmel stories.)

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