Jimmy Kimmel to Deliver ‘Deeply Personal’ Christmas Day Message on U.K.’s Channel 4

Jimmy Kimmel is set to give the 2025 Alternative Christmas Message for U.K. network Channel 4.

Sometimes humorous, sometimes serious, the famed message — which will air on Christmas Day — has become an annual tradition of Channel 4’s and serves as an alternative to the British monarch’s televised address to the nation. Various well-known yet unexpected names have given the address since it first started in 1993, with Kimmel following in the footsteps of former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whistleblower Edward Snowden and French screen icon Brigitte Bardot.

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According to the network, Kimmel’s message will see him reflect on the last few months — including the hugely controversial suspension by ABC of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” following a monologue made in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder — in a “deeply personal and characteristically jovial address.”

It asserted that Kimmel’s Christmas message includes the line, “From a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year.”

In his final monologue of 2025 for “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” the chat show host teared up as he thanked fans for helping him get through a difficult year. Alongside ABC briefly pulling his late night talk show off the air and Kimmel’s ongoing feud with President Donald Trump, he also lost his childhood best friend — and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” bandleader — Cleto Escobedo III, who died in November.

“This has been a strange year. It’s been a hard year,” Kimmel said at the beginning of the last “Jimmy Kimmel Live” episode of the year on Dec. 19. “We’ve had some lows, we’ve had some highs. For me, maybe more than any year of my life. I’m crying already, I’m sorry.”

Kimmel fought through tears and continued, “I just want to say that we appreciate your support, your enthusiasm, and not just for watching. This year, you literally pulled us out of a hole, and we cannot thank you enough personally.”