Jimmy Kimmel reveals he used to ‘pray’ ABC would cancel his late-night talk show during early days

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday, October 22, confessed the severe pressure he endured in the first few years of his late-night program, confessing he would "pray" for ABC to drop it.

Talking with Ted Danson on the podcast 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name', at  47:48 minutes, Kimmel admitted to the terror of his initial hosting stint by saying, "I didn't know what I was doing, and I would pray that they canceled the show sometimes." 

He said that although he couldn't leave because he had a commitment, he was suffering, adding, "I didn’t want to quit because I didn’t want to disappoint all the many people who worked for me, but I couldn’t. I was just — I couldn’t do it anymore."

Jimmy Kimmel recalled how his friends helped him

To stay on the air, Jimmy Kimmel depended greatly on his own friend network. He often counted on visits from close friends such as his then-girlfriend, Sarah Silverman, Adam Carolla, David Alan Grier, Anthony Anderson, and Kathy Griffin.

"I asked her to come on a lot and I love her," he told of Silverman, adding an emotional thank you to his friends: "God bless them, because I needed them. And they were always ready at a moment's notice to come on."

Eventually, the show finally found its groove. The host, who is 57 years old, stated that the show "stabilized and we figured out how to do it," crediting the improvement to adding features such as "running bits" and various other pieces that assisted in keeping him "afloat."

Jimmy Kimmel's recent suspicious suspension

Jimmy Kimmel's comments about his show's previous difficulties come on the heels of the show being briefly suspended by the network. The pre-emption came on the heels of contentious remarks he made regarding the death of Charlie Kirk. 

ABC first informed Page Six, "Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely," following threats from Nextar, a TV conglomerate, to substitute the show in their ABC-affiliated markets.

The move elicited strong public outcry, including a letter signed by hundreds of celebrities, such as Ben Affleck and Jennifer Aniston, among others, who decried the action as being against free speech.

The show resumed on September 23 following what The Walt Disney Company described as "thoughtful discussions with Jimmy." The company cited the reason for the initial suspension as, “We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”