KEY POINTS
- Jimmy Kimmel disclosed his diagnosis via Twitter Monday
- Comedian Mike Birbiglia will be filling in for him starting Tuesday while he's on the mend
- Kimmel apologized to planned guests Tom Cruise and Iliza Shlesinger for their canceled interview
Jimmy Kimmel has announced that he is temporarily stepping away from his eponymous late-night show after he tested positive for COVID-19.
"Our daughter brought us COVID (even though we specifically asked her not to)," Kimmel joked in a statement posted on Twitter Monday.
Kimmel confirmed that comedian Mike Birbiglia will be filling in for him starting Tuesday while he's on the mend before apologizing to planned guests Tom Cruise and Iliza Shlesinger.
"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," he added.
For Monday's episode, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" aired a re-run.
Fans and Twitter users wished Kimmel a speedy recovery following his announcement and said they were glad he was feeling fine despite his diagnosis.
"Hi [Jimmy], I'm sorry that you got COVID. Stay safe. Best wishes for a quick recovery," one person commented.
"Hopefully and prayerfully you are all better soon (daughter included) and didn’t pass [the virus] on to anyone," another added.
"Well, you know how kids are, they tune you out. You should have used a stronger tone when you asked her not to bring you Covid," a third fan joked. "Get well [soon} as right now, we all need a good laugh."
Birbiglia took to his own Twitter to joke about how he learned of the news that he will be guest-hosting "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
"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. See you on the TV tomorrow, friends," he wrote while quote-tweeting Kimmel's post.
Kimmel is the latest late-night host to test positive for COVID-19. Last week, Stephen Colbert also confirmed that he contracted the virus and would have to miss a few episodes.
In the past months, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and James Corden all announced their diagnoses, Entertainment Weekly reported.
U.S. President Barack Obama talks with show host Jimmy Kimmel during a commercial break in a taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live in Los Angeles on Mar. 12, 2015. Photo: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
