Ellen DeGeneres is daytime TV’s undisputed queen of surprises, and she stayed true to that title when Jimmy Kimmel stopped by for an interview on Tuesday, February 27.
While discussing the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host’s 10-month-old son, Billy, who has undergone multiple procedures for congenital heart defects since he was born, DeGeneres announced that she had something special up her sleeve.
“That could go either way on this show,” Kimmel, 50, quipped. The Ellen DeGeneres Show host, 60, responded, “I know, but it’s a good surprise.”
She then revealed that the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles has named a room on its Heart Institute floor after Billy. “Wow,” Kimmel said repeatedly before giving DeGeneres a kiss on the cheek and wiping tears from his eyes.
After playing a video of the infant’s surgeon, doctors and nurses standing in front of the room with a sign on the window that read, “In Honor of Billy Kimmel,” DeGeneres added, “That will forever be the Billy Kimmel room. And thanks to everyone at the Children’s Hospital of L.A., including several of Billy’s nurses, who are here in the audience today.”
After spotting the nurses in the crowd, Kimmel pointed his finger and playfully shouted, “You should be at work!” He then turned to the comedian and said, “Wow, thank you very much. That means a lot to me.”
Billy was born in April 2017 with a genetic heart disease. A visibly emotional Kimmel revealed the news during one of his late-night monologues at the time, explaining that his son underwent open heart surgery just days after his birth. Billy had a second successful surgery in December and even made a brief appearance on his dad’s show. Kimmel — who will host the Oscars on Sunday, March 4 — has continued to use his platform to urge politicians to work on providing universal health care.
