Jimmy Kimmel has hosted his own late-night talk show since 2003.
As of Sunday night, March 10, he will have hosted the Academy Awards four times and he hates Aaron Rodgers.
Indeed, at this point, the public knows a great deal about Jimmy Kimmel.
But can the same be said about Jimmy Kimmel’s wife? Did you even know that her name is Molly McNearney?
Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney attend The Walt Disney Company Emmy Awards Party at Otium on January 15, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images)
McNearney is 46 years old.
She was actually in the comedian’s professional life before his personal life, as she joined Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2003 as an assistant to the executive producer.
Three years later, McNearney took on a writer’s role… and was then was promoted to co-head writer in 2008. She has been one of the lead voices on the popular program for well over a decade now.
The romance didn’t exactly blossom right away, however.
Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney attend the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards at Peacock Theater on January 15, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
“When I first met him, he insulted me,” Molly explained to Glamour in 2010.
“The executive producer brought me into his office and said, ‘This is Molly; she’s my new assistant.’ Jimmy barely looked up from his desk until my EP said, ‘She competes in triathlons,’ and then Jimmy looked up at me and said:
“‘That is really stupid! What a waste of time.’”
Sorry, but… we laughed.
At that time, Kimmel was dating comedian Sarah Silverman; the two split in 2008 after a lengthy relationship and he began dating McNearney the following year.
Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney attend Children’s Hospital Los Angeles 2022 CHLA Gala at Barker Hangar on October 08, 2022 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Momodu Mansaray/Getty Images)
According to another interview with Glamour, this one in 2014, Kimmel won his now-bride over with food.
“He cooked for me, and that was it,” she told the magazine back then of Kimmel, who has became well known for making his own pizza. “It sealed the deal.”
“He loves to give gifts, and he loves to feed people,” Molly continued10 years ago.
“He’s really the ultimate host. I really am married to Martha Stewart.”
Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearney attend Wheelhouse and Rally’s celebrity and content-creator private fund raise event, with rare collectibles on display from sports, culture and history on October 13, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Rally is a Fractional Investing Platform for Collectibles. (Getty)
McNearney has said she was “nervous” to tell the Jimmy Kimmel Live! staff about her relationship with the host at first, partly because she was the only female in the writers’ room.
“I didn’t want to change the dynamic,” she told Glamour. “We love to make fun of Jimmy over here, myself included.”
But then Kimmel proposed to McNearney while vacationing in South Africa’s Kruger National Park in 2012 and, well, the secret was out.
McNearney and Kimmel married in 2013 in Ojai, California in front of very famous guests that included Ben Affleck, Howard Stern, Emily Blunt and John Krasinski.
Will Jimmy really quit his show? We doubt it. (Photo by Mindy Small/Getty Images)
Now a mother of two, McNearney welcomed her first baby with Kimmel in 2014, a daughter named Jane.
They also share a seven-year son named Jack.
McNearney, meanwhile, has also worked on the broadcast ceremonies for the Academy Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards, both of which her husband has hosted numerous times.
“I will sometimes dream a joke or think of something in the middle of the night, and then what I do is, because I cannot hold it in, I will wait until she’s stirring and then I’ll tell her what I thought,” Kimmel said on the Smartless podcast in 2020.
“Deep in my skull, I think to myself, This is her job, so it’s okay for me to do this. That’s how I rationalize it.”
Kimmel was previously married to Gina Maddy from 1988 to 2003.
They share two children together: Katie Kimmel (born in 1991) and Kevin Kimmel (born in 1993).
Jimmy Kimmel’s Wife: Who is Molly McNearney? was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.