Jimmy Kimmel Has Some Regrets About Publicly Revealing Son's Health Problems

If he could go back, Jimmy Kimmel may have done things a bit differently.

The late night host opened up about the health of his son Billy, who underwent emergency open-heart surgery only three days after his birth in late April, during his Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017 interview with The New York Times. "[Billy's] going to have another operation coming up soon, and another when he's around eight to 10 years old," Kimmel told the publication. "But he's doing well." 

As Nicki Swift previously reported, the comedian delivered an emotional monologue about his son's heart defect on Jimmy Kimmel Live in May 2017, during which he also spoke out on behalf of the Affordable Care Act. "No parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their child's life," Kimmel stated in the viral video. Since then, he has become a surprising health care advocate.

While he felt he owed his audience an explanation, the 49-year-old father of two also revealed that he has some slight regrets. "What I didn't think through was that, everywhere I went, every day of my life, people would be asking me how my son is doing," Kimmel told the NYT. "But thank God I can say he's doing well. If that wasn't the case, each day would be very, very painful."

"I also felt like I had to say something, because I'd been talking about the fact that my wife [Molly McNearney, his show's co-head writer] was pregnant for six months," he continued. "I left for paternity leave and then I didn't come back. That was something I had to address."

Kimmel previously shared an update on Billy's condition in August. "He's doing great. Young Billy made his first visit to our office today. He's juggling. He's translating Flaubert from French into English. He's really an amazing kid," he jokingly told The Hollywood Reporter. "No — he smiles. That's pretty much it. He is very interested in ceiling fans. He likes those a lot. I could get him to pay the same amount for Netflix just to watch ceiling fans."