Jimmy Kimmel reveals retirement plans before writers strike started

On Spotify's Strike Force Five podcast, Jimmy Kimmel recently confessed that he planned to leave from his late-night show prior to the ongoing writers' strike.

On Wednesday, the five late-night hosts, including Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, and Seth Meyers, launched a new podcast to aid out-of-work writers affected by the Writers Guild of America strike.

Speaking on the first episode of the podcast, Kimmel said, "I was very intent on retiring right around the time where the strike started."

"And now, I realise, oh yeah, it’s kind of nice to work. You know when you are working, you think about not working," remarked the TV host.

Meyers questioned his fellow late-night TV host, "Kimmel, c’mon, you are the Tom Brady of late night. You have feigned retirement. Are we to take you at your word?"

Kimmel responded, "I was serious, I was very, very serious."

Kimmel added that he likes getting the summer off from his show each year, but "I like it better when I am getting paid to get the summer off."

Kimmel's retirement choice is thought to have flopped on him after he agreed to a three-year extension of his Emmy-nominated ABC show last year.

At the time, the host quipped in a press statement, "After two decades at ABC, I am now looking forward to three years of what they call 'quiet quitting'."

The authors went on strike in early May following six weeks of negotiations with Netflix, Amazon, Warner Bros, Disney, and Discovery, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

It has also been stated that Fallon and Meyers personally paid their writers during the strike time in order to support the cause.