Rosie O’Donnell is addressing the pervasive rumor she’s being tapped to one day replace late night host Jimmy Kimmel.
“Ha funny — and completely untrue,” O’Donnell, 64, wrote via Instagram on Monday, July 27, over a screenshot of a comment request email from a media outlet reporting on her alleged “full-time return to late night” after agreeing to fill in for Kimmel, 68, on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in August.
“I leave for Ireland the day I’m done guest hosting for Jimmy — where my child starts the 8th grade,” the former daytime talk show host continued. “I’m not interested in doing late night. Daytime, however, would be interesting.”
O’Donnell hosted her own Emmy Award-winning syndicated show, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, between 1996 and 2002. She also briefly hosted an evening talk show, The Rosie Show, from 2011 to 2012, and had stints as a moderator and cohost on The View from 2006 to 2007 and 2014 to 2015.
Many fans in the comments of O’Donnell’s post urged the actress to one day return to daytime TV.
“Bring back your daytime talk show. I loved watching it as a kid. I still remember the bead you hung from your chin hair 😅💜,” one user wrote, while another person added, “Bring back daytime TV so we can all get off these stupid phones lol.”
A third fan commented, “I think I speak for millennials everywhere when I say please bring The Rosie O’Donnell Show back so we can feel alive again.”
Earlier this month, O’Donnell opened up to Page Six about her decision to quit her eponymous daytime series, revealing that she had $100 million in the bank at the time.
“When I heard that [number], I thought, ‘OK, now I’m done.’ And everyone was like, ‘Why are you leaving?’ I had enough money to take care of everyone in my life, philanthropy and strangers,” the Star Search alum said, adding that she wanted to spend more time with her children. “I wanted to be at their softball games. I wanted to be at school plays.”
O’Donnell shares kids Parker, 31, Chelsea, 28, Blake, 26, and Vivienne, 23, with ex-wife Kelli Carpenter, as well as Clay, 13, with late ex-wife Michelle Rounds.
Though O’Donnell has not announced any official plans for a daytime talk show, fans will be able to watch her guest host Jimmy Kimmel Live during the week of August 17. The gig was announced in June as part of the show’s summer guest host lineup during Kimmel’s two-month break. Other guest hosts include Tiffany Haddish, Anthony Anderson, Colman Domingo, Ike Barinholtz and Jelly Roll.
“As a special treat for our commander-in-chief, I asked one of his all-time favorites, Rosie O’Donnell, to be here to keep the hits coming. So, you’re welcome!” Kimmel announced on his show, referencing O’Donnell’s longtime feud with President Donald Trump.
