Jimmy Fallon & Seth Meyers Weren’t Even On NBC’s Radar To Take Over As Hosts of ‘Tonight Show’ & ‘Late Night’

Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers are recalling just how they got into the late night hosting game.

The two hosts, who are the current faces of The Tonight Show and Late Night, opened up on the Strike Force Five podcast about how they actually weren’t even considered for the hosting jobs until Lorne Michaels stepped in.

Jimmy had left Saturday Night Live in 2004 to pursue a bigger career in films, but said that Lorne approached him about possibly taking over Late Night in a few years after Conan O’Brien, as he was headed to The Tonight Show at that time. (There was some drama involved!)

“He [Michaels] goes, ‘Would you ever want to do a talk show?’” Jimmy shared. “I go, ‘I don’t think so. … In six years, ask me, and if I’m around I’ll think about it.’”

As promised, Lorne followed up with him, and Jimmy‘s wife was the one to fully convince him.

“‘You have to take this job. You’re one of three human beings to ever do this,’” he recalled her tell him. “So, I call Lorne, and I go, ‘I’m in. I’d love to do it.’”

But it was then he found out that “‘NBC doesn’t really want you. But we have to talk to them.’ I’m not even on their list, by the way.”

Jimmy continued, saying that Lorne was a big cheerleader for him in getting the job: “‘Either you do this with Jimmy, or I’m not involved,’ or something like that. Changed my life.”

It was almost the same way for Seth, who wasn’t on NBC’s list either, apart from a New York Post story which hinted that he might be on some list for it. Lorne took notice of it.

“When you talk to Lorne, it often feels like a follow-up call to a conversation that never happened,” Seth shared. “He literally just started saying, ‘You know, I think you’ll do it, and it will be good, and it will take time, but you’ll have Jimmy as a lead-in.’ There was again no moment when anybody ever said to me, would you like to do this?”

Following his run as Late Night host, Jimmy took over The Tonight Show in 2014. Seth then took over Late Night the same year.