Jimmy Kimmel Talks Retiring From Late Night After 14 Years

Jimmy Kimmel recently opened up about perhaps wanting to retire from late night TV after 14 years.

JIMMY KIMMEL CONSIDERS RETIRING FROM TV

Kimmel, who hosts his own show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, recently talked to Variety prior to hosting the Academy Awards this Sunday. “I know I will do the show for another three years,” said the late night funnyman. “It’s possible that will be it.”

@TheAcademy Awards is this Sunday! This week’s cover star, Jimmy Kimmel, will be hosting. We asked him what to expect on Hollywood’s biggest night, from @realdonaldtrump jokes to a possible @hillaryclinton cameo. Hit the link in our bio for the story. (Photo by @aspictures for @variety) #oscars

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Kimmel, 49, cited his pregnant wife, his love for drawing, and the fact that doing a daily show takes up most of his time. “My wife’s pregnant. At a certain point, I’d like to have a little more free time,” he explained. “I have very little time as it is… If there’s something that excites me creatively, it doesn’t necessarily mean something in show business. I like to draw. I like to make sculptures. I’d like to write a book at some point. Doing the show every day doesn’t leave a lot of time for that.”

Of course, Kimmel assured, he would miss television. “I will miss it when I go,” he said. “Television is changing quickly. I get a lot of offers to do a lot of different things.”

Kimmel will host the Oscars this Sunday, Feb. 26, just a year after hosting the Emmys. The pressure of hosting an awards show is not lost on the comic. “I made a decision to try to enjoy the process and be optimistic,” he says. “That said, my subconscious still tells me it’s going to be a disaster. This is a no-win situation. Even if it goes great, you get a lot of s–t from a lot of people.”

He laughed when asked if he would consider hosting the Oscars again. “I’m just going to focus on the one and see how it goes,” he says. “It’s funny, because part of the reason I was asked to do this is because the Emmys went well. If I do really well, I’m just going to have to do it again.”

If he does leave TV, he says he’d like to choose when it happens. “I want to go out on my own terms,” Kimmel said. “If we ever feel like we’re repeating ourselves, I think it’s a good indication that it’s time.”