Following the New York Times reporting that Jimmy Fallon is going to replace Jay Leno on The Tonight Show, Seth Myers has been the most mentioned name to replace Jimmy. Insiders say no decision has been made yet but one name that keeps popping up inside 30 Rock, along with Seth’s, is Chelsea Handler.
“Chelsea’s late night show on E! is a huge success. She has proved that a woman can be part of late night. Remember that E! and NBC are now all part of the same company – Comcast,” one NBC insider tells Naughty But Nice Rob. “It would be easy to move Chelsea from cable onto the network within the same company, plus, it would give NBC something fresh and new, instead of another white man hosting a late night show.”
In July, Seth Myers turned down the opportunity to co-host “Live with Kelly!” saying at the time that; “I know [Regis’ replacement] is a very important thing down there…but, right now, what I would say to you: I’m really in love with the job I have. I’m very excited to be going back [to SNL] for the election season, which is always fun.”
Tina Fey and Howard Stern are two more names that are also being mentioned to replace Jimmy. Although Howard says being offered that job would be insulting.