Jimmy Kimmel Opens Late Night Show With Son Billy

After a week off, the talk show host returned to Jimmy Kimmel Live! with a surprise guest, his son Billy.

On Monday, Dec. 11, 2017, Jimmy Kimmel greeted audience members and at-home viewers, taking the stage for his late night show. But he wasn't alone for his opening monologue. Instead, he was accompanied by his kid, Billy, who underwent heart surgery just one week earlier.

"Look! He's fine, everybody," Kimmel said, jokingly adding, "He may have pooped but he's fine."

After thanking the guest hosts that filled in for him while he was away, which included Chris Pratt, Tracee Ellis Ross, Neil Patrick Harris, and Melissa McCarthy, Kimmel turned his attention to a more serious issue: health insurance coverage for children.

"We want to thank the very bright and talented doctors and nurses at Children's Hospital who treated Billy and many kids with so much care and compassion—children from every income level whose health is especially threatened right now because of something you probably never heard of," he said, fighting back tears. "It's called CHIP [Children's Health Insurance Program]."

Giving a brief history of the program, the 50-year-old continued, "Parents of children with cancer, diabetes and heart problems are about to get letters saying their coverage could be cut off next month. Merry Christmas, right?"

"This is literally a life and death program for American kids. It's always had bipartisan support, but this year, they let the money for it expire while they work on getting tax cuts for their millionaire and billionaire donors," Kimmel explained. "Imagine getting that letter, not knowing to you'll be able to afford to save your children's life. This is not a hypothetical; about 2 million CHIP kids have serious chronic conditions. I don't know about you but I've had enough of this. I don't know what could be more disgusting than putting a tax cut that mostly goes to rich people ahead of the lives of children."

Kimmel then urged viewers to call their representatives in House and Senate and tell them to fund CHIP.

Of course, Kimmel also gave audience members an update on Billy's health. "Billy's doing great by the way. He was one more surgery. He had an operation a week ago," Kimmel said.

"They say he's probably on track to win at least a bronze medal in the Olympics in 2036," he quipped.

As Nicki Swift previously reported, Kimmel's son underwent his second heart surgery on Monday, Dec. 4, 2017. Prior to the operation, he'd had open heart surgery just three days after his birth in April 2017, as a result of a heart defect.

While we wait for our next glimpse of Kimmel's adorable son, read up on everything you don't know about the late night TV host.