Jimmy Kimmel has tested positive for COVID-19 and has named comedian Mike Birbiglia as his fill-in host for the time being.
Kimmel made the announcement Monday on Twitter, saying that he was “feeling fine.”
"Our daughter brought us covid (even though we specifically asked her not to)," he tweeted. "All feeling fine, I am double vaxxed and boosted but the show must not go on. Apologies to @TomCruise & @iliza and thanks to Mike Birbiglia @birbigs who'll be filling in for me starting tomorrow night."
Birbiglia also shared the news on Twitter.
"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. Sending love to the Kimmels," he wrote. "See you on the TV tomorrow, friends."
Tuesday night's show of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" will continue with appearances by Mike Myers and Iliza Shlesinger and The Black Crowes as musical guests, according to Variety. Wednesday's show will feature Ewan McGregor and Ben Schwartz along with musical guests The Head and the Heart.
Kimmel joins a string of late-night hosts who have tested positive for COVID-19 including Seth Meyers, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Fallon, and James Corden who all contracted COVID-19 towards the start of the year. In each instance, the hosts were fully vaccinated and said their symptoms were relatively mild.
Goldberg expressed surprise at the fact that her tests had come back positive as she had followed all precautionary measures.
"It was a shock because you know, I'm triple vaxxed, haven't been anywhere, haven't done anything, but that's the thing about the omicron. You just don't know where it is," she said during a virtual appearance on "The View," according to People. "You don't know where it is, who's got it, who's passing it. So you know, it's one of those things where you think, I've done everything I was supposed to do."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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