Jimmy Kimmel. Credit :
Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty
Jimmy Kimmel is officially a grandpa!
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host, 57, became a grandparent after his daughter Katie welcomed her first baby — a girl — with husband Will Logsdon.
Their happy news was shared by Kimmel on Tuesday, May 20, during his talk show’s opening monologue. “The baby’s very healthy,” he said, before revealing his granddaughter’s name.
“Her name, they gave her a very cute name. Her name is Melania,” he joked, adding, “It’s Melania Thee Stallion…”
He went on to give his granddaughter’s real name: Patti Joan.
The newborn’s first name is “like the melt, but with an ‘I’ not a ‘Y,’ ” Kimmel said, while her middle name, Joan, comes from his mother’s name.
Kimmel had been absent from Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, May 19, the day Katie’s gave birth.
“We were supposed to have a show last night, but we didn’t because my daughter had a baby last night,” Kimmel explained at the top of the show. “My oldest daughter – you know, people don’t realize, people that know I have two little kids, they don’t know I have two older kids. My oldest daughter, she’s 83-years-old. Her name is Katie. Katie and her husband Will had a baby girl right at the time we shoot our show last night. So I decided to be there instead here.”
It was the second time Kimmel had skipped a show in 22 years. The last was when he had his appendix out.
Plenty of people were by Kimmel’s side for his daughter’s big day. “We had an army of people at the hospital, it was bigger than Coachella,” Kimmel teased.
He gave extra praise to longtime sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez. “You were such a great doula,” he joked. “You were reassuring, you were calm, your hands were soft, you were perfect. Thank you so much, on behalf of the whole family.”
Kimmel shares daughter Katie, 33, and son Kevin, 31, with ex-wife Gina Maddy. He is also dad to son Billy, 8, and daughter Jane, 10, whom he shares with wife Molly McNearney.
At the Disney Upfront on Tuesday, May 13, Kimmel revealed that his daughter was pregnant and about to give birth to his first grandchild. “My daughter, my oldest daughter, is about to have a baby. I’m holding for applause,” Kimmel said in the pre-recorded sketch. “I assume I’m getting applause, applause, applause, thank you. I’m going to be a grandfather.”
He joked that his grandchild’s naming rights were up for offer at the event.
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Jimmy Kimmel (right) and his daughter, Katie in 2015. Donato Sardella/WireImage
Katie tied the knot with her husband Logsdon in September 2021. Kimmel opened up about Katie’s ceremony when he stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “She actually turned 30 two weeks ago, which is strange to have a 30-year-old daughter,” he said. “And she is getting married this weekend, as a matter of fact, which is a big deal.”
As host Ellen DeGeneres congratulated him, Kimmel said: “Yeah, I guess.”
“People keep saying congratulations,” he continued. “I don’t know what I’m being congratulated for. Congratulations on raising a human that is attractive enough to be taken by one person. It’s not like we were trying to get rid of her, you know? It’s not like we’re selling a houseboat on eBay or something like that. But I guess congratulations is the thing.”
Kimmel also confirmed that he does indeed like Katie’s spouse Logsdon. “People ask that too like, ‘How’s the guy?’ And I’ll tell you, the guy is great,” he shared. “His name is Will and he’s a great guy. And if he wasn’t, he’d be dead right now.”
