Jimmy Kimmel ready for anything as host of 95th Oscars Sunday night on ABC
LOS ANGELES -- Entertainment reporter Sandy Kenyon sat down with Jimmy Kimmel ahead of the 95th Oscars Sunday night, and although the comic swore years ago that he'd never be hosting again, Kimmel said, tongue in cheek, "I lie a lot!"
Kimmel, who is hosting for the third time, reveals the lessons and hosting skills he's learned over the years, especially from what many refer to as the biggest mistake in Oscars' history - the night the wrong winner was read for the biggest award of the night, Best Picture, back in 2017. It was Kimmel's first time hosting, too.
It's safe to say he's prepared for just about anything this year.
Last year's Oscars, of course, held another memorable moment: the slap heard around the world. Kimmel addressed the slap by Will Smith, remembering his confusion when it first happened, and saying about Chris Rock: "I'm glad that he came out on the winning side of that."
Kimmel plans to use his monologue to briefly address the incident and then move on.
"The 95th Oscars show will be a success if no one gets hurt, I think the bar's pretty low now," he said. "I have to thank Will for that."
Kimmel's wife, Molly McNearney, is leading a team of writers backstage and he said he is grateful to have her.
"Because I know she has the right opinion on what I think might be funny or might work for the show and for me, so, it's a great advantage," he said.
Their biggest challenge for the show is picking which jokes to do.
"You hate to set a great joke aside, every time I do the Oscars, I wind up with six great jokes that just, they didn't make it into the show," Kimmel said. "Sometimes you're rooting for winners just because you have the best joke attached to that winner."
When Kenyon reminded Kimmel that he once said he would never host the Oscars again, he joked that you can't trust what comes out of his mouth.
"It's funny, I believed that at the time for sure," Kimmel said. "I mean, I also didn't think I'd ever get asked to do it again, so it was almost like a spurned lover-type situation. But, here I am again."
There are some new changes for this year's Oscars, including a new Champagne-colored carpet rather than the traditional red carpet, which Kimmel jokingly addressed, saying he feels the change "shows how confident we are that no blood will be shed."
VIDEO | The Sitdown: Sandy Kenyon and Jimmy Kimmel talk lessons learned, jokes, hosting skills & more
