While some viewers questioned Jimmy Fallon for having Fox News personality Greg Gutfeld on The Tonight Show last week, it appears the decision paid off, at least in terms of ratings.
According to The Wrap, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon scored its biggest audience since 2023 for last Thursday’s (August 7) broadcast, which saw Gutfeld and the Jonas Brothers joining the late-night host on the sofa, along with musical guest Good Charlotte.
The episode averaged 1.7 million viewers, per Nielsen live-plus-same day figures, the highest numbers The Tonight Show has seen since December 19, 2023, in an episode that featured Bradley Cooper, Martha Stewart, and Rufus and Martha Wainwright. These numbers exclude episodes that had live sports lead-ins, which have drawn larger audiences.
Per LateNighter, The Tonight Show‘s share of the total viewing audience increased during Gutfeld’s segment compared to the half hour before it. In addition, the Gutfeld interview is last week’s most-viewed video on the show’s YouTube channel with 990,000 views as of writing (for comparison, the Jonas Brothers interview has 151,000 views).
The viewership for the August 7 episode ended up boosting The Tonight Show‘s average for the week of August 4 to 1.2 million, making it the most-watched week of The Tonight Show since the week of May 19.
Other guests featured on the show last week included Chris Pratt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Jordan Klepper, Heidi Klum, and more.
Gutfeld’s The Tonight Show appearance came amid the comedian’s continued dominance across late-night. Despite airing on cable, Gutfeld! continually tops its broadcast rivals — although it does air over an hour earlier in primetime at 10/9c. For the second quarter of 2025, the Fox News show averaged 3.289 million viewers, compared to The Late Show with 2.417 million, Jimmy Kimmel Live! with 1.772 million, and The Tonight Show with 1.188 million.
Following his Tonight Show debut, Gutfeld spoke about his experience on his own show the next night. He praised Fallon, saying “it took guts” to invite him on the show. Gutfeld also touched on those who expected him to attack the NBC host, explaining that he “went on the show for the same reason I started [my own] show. Late-night needs more fun. I was a gracious guest to a nice guy.”
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Weeknights, 11:35/10:35c, NBC
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