Jimmy Kimmel Says Hosting Virtual Emmys Was A "Strange" But "Fun" Experience

Jimmy Kimmel admitted it was a "strange experience" hosting the Emmy Awards and jumping straight back into his car afterwards.

The talk show host took to the stage at Los Angeles' Staples Center on Sunday night (Sept 20) to present what he dubbed the "Pand-Emmys", a partially virtual iteration of the prestigious awards show, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

And the comedian admitted it was odd not hitting up a party and celebrating with the winners afterwards, while he quipped that it's probably the first time in the awards show's history that one of the Emmy winners has done their laundry immediately after accepting an accolade via Zoom.

During his opening monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday (Sept 21), he said: "The weirdest part of hosting this show was, when it was over, there are usually parties and everyone is carrying their Emmys around. Everyone's happy, everyone's celebrating. This year, the show ended and it was like 'Well, I guess I'll go into my car — and drive home.'

"Doing an awards show, where all the winners are at home, is a strange experience. It was probably the first time in history that someone won an Emmy and then, 10 minutes later, put a load of laundry in the dryer."

Still, he said that he had a “lot of fun — given the difficult circumstances”.

The 52-year-old host also poked fun at the ratings for this year's ceremony being the lowest, with just 6.1 million viewers tuning in.

He quipped: "Well, I hosted the virtual Emmys last night. They're saying it was the highest-rated Emmys ever. Oh, the lowest? Oh, all right."He added: "Well, we set a record, let's just say that."

However, the ceremony raised US$2.8 million (S$3.4 mil) for No Kid Hungry charity. “So that was a very big positive,” he added.

During the opening segment of the Emmys, Jimmy opened to a fake audience. It appeared he was in front of delighted star-studded crowd, but when his own face appeared laughing at one of his jokes, he revealed the footage was from previous ceremonies and the seats inside the venue were filled intermittently with celebrity cutouts — and the real Jason Bateman.

He joked: "Of course we don't have an audience. This is the Emmys, not a MAGA rally."

Schitt's Creek was the big winner on the night, winning all seven of the awards it was nominated for.

Watch Jimmy's opening monologue here: