After Jimmy Kimmel, late night’s newest face is Jelly Roll
Jelly Roll is eyeing late night next, channeling his candid charm and comedic instincts into a new TV adventure poised to jolt the after-hours crowd.
After June 18, 2026 , ABC slid Jimmy Kimmel Live! into summer-guest-host mode, tapping a rotating crew to keep the lights on while Kimmel took a two-month breather. One of the most talked-about fill-ins wasn’t a comedian at all — country star Jelly Roll stepped behind the desk and immediately sparked “wait, can he host?” curiosity.
- Tiffany Haddish
- Anthony Anderson
- Ike Barinholtz
- Colman Domingo
- Jelly Roll
- Rosie O’Donnell
Who’s Jelly Roll?
Born Jason Bradley DeFord in Antioch, Tennessee, Jelly Roll built a genre-hopping career — underground hip-hop to country, rock, and Southern soul — without sanding down his edges. The heavily tattooed singer-rapper writes like an open wound, folding hard-lived details into songs that feel confessional and unvarnished.
That history is real: poverty, addiction, incarceration, and run-ins with the law starting with a first arrest at 14. A turning point came in 2008 when he learned he had a newborn daughter, Bailee, a jolt that pushed him toward a different path.
Music became the second act. He built an audience independently before “Save Me” — a stark acoustic ballad from 2020 about addiction and self-doubt — blew his story open. Albums like Ballads of the Broken and Whitsitt Chapel cemented his country crossover, and his 2026 Grand Ole Opry induction put an exclamation point on the rise.
Hosting chops, not a fluke
Jelly Roll wasn’t flying blind on late night. His first official guest-host stint came in July 2025 , where he proved the same instincts that work onstage — quick read of the room, easy crowd rapport — translate to a monologue and a couch.
Jelly Roll’s first late-night hosting turn was in July 2025; ABC invited him back in August 2026.
Outside of late night, he’s done the mic-work at big tent music nights too, appearing as a co-host and special presenter at the CMT Music Awards and the CMA Awards. Years of relentless touring sharpened his timing and improvisation, which goes a long way when the next laugh or heartfelt moment depends on how you steer the room.
With Kimmel’s desk handed to a summer rotation, Jelly Roll’s return to the chair in August 2026 fits the bill: a crowd-savvy performer with live-TV reps stepping into one of TV’s loosest, most conversational hours.