Jimmy Kimmel Almost Lost ABC Gig To Another Famous Late-Night Host

Jimmy Kimmel is perhaps one of the most iconic late-night talk show hosts in the country. Rivaled by few, he got his big break on ABC in 2003. However, he nearly lost his position to another host of the same caliber, and the reason why he edged him out is bewildering.

He revealed to Ted Danson on his podcast, Where Everybody Knows Your Name, that Jon Stewart (The Daily Show) was also a candidate for what is now known as Jimmy Kimmel Live! He stated that he was shocked that he managed to snatch the spot due to how successful Stewart already was in 2003.

Kimmel explained how they had the same manager, James Dixon, who was just about to close the deal for Stewart with ABC. But, at the very last minute, ABC chairman Lloyd Braun decided to watch his tape and liked him enough to show his audition to Bob Iger. Both agreed that Kimmel was the right fit for the job, and the rest is history.

Jon and I have the same manager, James ‘Baby Doll’ Dixon, and James was about to close this deal for Jon to host the show… [ABC chairman Lloyd Braun] watched my tape, and he was like, ‘I think this might be the guy.’ And he brought the tape to Bob Iger, and Iger said, ‘Yeah, I think this might be the guy.’ It was a very strange thing because [James] was in the difficult position of having to tell Jon, ‘Uh, you’re not going to ABC, but Jimmy is going to ABC.’

He was so shocked that ABC chose him over someone as well-known as Stewart that he asked Iger for an explanation. He jokingly responded with, “Well, you were cheaper.” And, Kimmel stated that while everyone laughed at his answer, he believed that it was most likely true.

I said, ‘What was it, like why ‘this is quite a leap that you guys made. I was on The Man Show, I was doing football picks on Fox NFL Sunday — what was it? He goes, ‘Well, you were cheaper.’ And everybody laughed, but I knew he wasn’t kidding.

Kimmel added that he personally thought that ABC made a mistake by hiring him and that they definitely should have picked Stewart because that’s exactly what he would have done. “That was a mistake, by the way. They definitely should hire Jon. If I’m in that position, there’s no question I hire John 100 times out of 100,” he explained.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs new episodes on weeknights at 11:35 PM ET and 8:35 PM PT on ABC.