Jimmy Kimmel Reveals He Was ‘Very Intent On Retiring’ Before Writers’ Strike Made Him Realize ‘It’s Kind Of Nice To Work’

etcanada.com:

Jimmy Kimmel just revealed he was about to retire from his late-night show until it was paused due to the WGA strike. As Variety reports, Kimmel dropped that bombshell in the debut edition of “Strike Force Five”, the new podcast he launched alongside fellow late-night hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver, which launched on Wednesday, Aug.

30. “I was very intent on retiring right around the time where the strike started,” Kimmel said in the podcast, which will donate all proceeds to the out-of-work staff members of the hosts’ respective shows. READ MORE: Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel & Other Late-Night Hosts Join Forces For Strike-Themed Podcast However, being idle for several months brought him to an epiphany. “And now, I realize, Oh yeah, it’s kind of nice to work,” he added.

Meyers couldn’t help joking about Kimmel’s backing away from retirement. “Kimmel, c’mon, you are the Tom Brady of late night… you have feigned retirement,” he quipped. READ MORE: Various ABC Shows, Including ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ And ‘American Idol’, Delayed Amid SAG-AFTRA And WGA Strikes Kimmel, however, insisted he wasn’t faking. “I was serious, I was very, very serious,” he said, noting that even though he’d previously taken summers off, he was still being paid.

Colbert also had something to share about what it’s been like to be not working for so long. According to the “Late Night” host, whenever someone encounters him in public and asks if he’s “enjoying the vacation,” he joked, “I usually say, ‘This is like a vacation in the same way a colonoscopy is like a nap.’”