Jimmy Fallon held back tears as he paid tribute to his late mom, Gloria Fallon, on The Tonight Show on Monday, November 13, after taking off a week to mourn his family’s loss.
“She was the best audience, she was the one I was always trying to make laugh. She was such a fan of the show and everything I did,” Fallon, 43, told the crowd at 30 Rock in NYC.
“When we were little, my mom would walk us to the store — me and my sister — and we would hold hands. And she would squeeze my hand three times and say, ‘I love you,’ and I would squeeze back, ‘I love you too.’ Last week I was in the hospital, at her side, and I grabbed her hand and I squeezed ‘I love you,’ and I just knew we were in trouble,” he recalled, getting choked up.
Jimmy pays tribute to his mother Gloria pic.twitter.com/YVpZfeuI9A
— Fallon Tonight (@FallonTonight) November 14, 2017
“I feel so grateful to be able to do this every single night and I’m very appreciative of all the support from all of you that my family received over the past week,” he continued. “Mom, I’ll never stop trying to make you laugh.”
As previously reported, Gloria passed away at a New York City hospital on Saturday, November 4. “On behalf of everyone at NBC, we extend our deepest condolences to Jimmy and all his family at this time of enormous loss,” the network said in a statement to Us Weekly the following day. “Our hearts go out to Jimmy and everyone else whose lives were so touched by Gloria Fallon’s love, kindness and support.”
Watch the video above.
The Tonight Show airs weeknights on NBC at 11:35 p.m. ET.
