![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c8e8023dba7d4c2212b80fca490204372a-rosie-jimmykimmel.rhorizontal.w700.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n Rosie O\u2019Donnell.
\n Photo: Randy Holmes\/Disney via Getty Images\n <\/p>\n
Rosie O\u2019Donnell<\/a> returned to a talk-show desk last night for the first time since The Rosie O\u2019Donnell Show went off the air in 2002, and, in the process, she reminded the world why that show was so successful. Jimmy Kimmel is currently on summer break, but Jimmy Kimmel Live! <\/a>is soldiering on with a series of guest hosts, and O\u2019Donnell, the latest, used her experience to reshape the show in her image. O\u2019Donnell, who moved to Ireland after Donald Trump won a second term, was surprised at the offer. \u201cJimmy was never a fan of mine, and it was kind of an adversarial relationship \u2014 not that I was fighting back, but I was like, \u2018Okay, one of the bro guys \u2026,\u2019\u201d she told Variety<\/a>. But she took the job, and thank goodness. It turns out that even though a lot has changed in 24 years (notably, O\u2019Donnell no longer has to pretend to have a crush on Tom Cruise), she is still the same bighearted professional she always was. It feels good to have her back.<\/p>\n Her monologue opened with Trump material (she refers to him as \u201cMango Mussolini\u201d), but her real strength came later, when she was describing her life in Ireland with her child, Clay. O\u2019Donnell lovingly describes the way the local crossing guard didn\u2019t believe she was the \u201cfamous actress\u201d Rosie O\u2019Donnell, and how the local pharmacist was so good at her job that O\u2019Donnell thought she was flirting with her. Her descriptions of the people she\u2019s interacting with are generous, and though the joke is always on her, she\u2019s not putting herself down. In contrast to the flinty political nature of Kimmel\u2019s monologues, watching O\u2019Donnell describe a happy life feels like a warm hug. Just look at the way she paid tribute<\/a> to Hayden Panettiere, who died this weekend at 36. \u201cI\u2019m just heartbroken over the passing of Hayden Panettiere last night. She was on my show many times as a little girl, and I got to know her as a grown woman,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cAnd she was so brave talking about mental health before people were really ready to hear about it, and very sad. My love to her family and friends, and she will be missed. Godspeed, Hayden.\u201d Rosie O\u2019Donnell still feels real.<\/p>\n The best moment in O\u2019Donnell\u2019s episode, though, was her interview with Ana Gasteyer<\/a>. Gasteyer is currently starring in Schmigadoon! on Broadway, which is catnip for O\u2019Donnell. She was always Broadway\u2019s biggest ally and regularly brought theater stars on her show to highlight their work. (Watch Sutton Foster\u2019s \u201cGimme Gimme\u201d<\/a> now, if you haven\u2019t, and bask in O\u2019Donnell\u2019s enthusiasm for it.) Her conversation with Gasteyer was expectedly knowledgable: O\u2019Donnell has seen the show, she gets the references, and she\u2019s excited to talk. When Gasteyer plugs the cast album, O\u2019Donnell responds, \u201cExcellent, I will be getting that,\u201d and you believe her! She even references how blown away she was the time first heard Gasteyer sing as Elphaba in Wicked.<\/p>\n You know \u2026 Kelly Clarkson\u2019s show is ending its run. Any chance O\u2019Donnell wants to come back from Ireland?<\/p>\n Sign up for the Vulture Daily<\/p>\n An entertainment newsletter for the pop-culture obsessed.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n