Jimmy Fallon Covers Esquire and Offers His Take on Stephen Colbert, His Biggest Competition

The Tonight Show made his comments in an interview with Esquire magazine, which features him on the cover of its December 2015 / January 2016 issue

By Corinne Heller Nov 18, 2015 4:04 PMTags
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Jimmy Fallon is not worried about his biggest competition, Stephen Colbert. Just don't compare the two to Jay Leno and David Letterman.

Fallon, 41, recently spoke to Esquire about his job as host of the long-running late-night talk show and his biggest competition. He graces the cover of the outlet's December 2015 / January 2016 issue, which hits newsstands on Nov. 24. and poses for Christmas-themed photos.

Fallon got the job after Leno left in 2014. Colbert, 51, who rose to fame hosting Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, took over as host of CBS' The Late Show in September. Letterman, 68, who had a longstanding rivalry with Leno, 65, retired more than three months prior. Fallon made a cameo on Colbert's first Late Show episode.

"It's good. It just makes everyone work a little bit harder," Fallon told Esquire about Colbert, in comments posted on Tuesday. "This is my Madison Square Garden. This is my home court, I'm comfortable here—this is where I play the best. I've learned from the best coaches and played with the best players. And I'm not worried. I play to win."

This season, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is averaging about 1.33 million viewers in the coveted demographic of adults ages 18 to 49, while The Late Show With Stephen Colbert is bringing in about 1.04 million and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! is in third place with 783,000, The Hollywood Reporter reported last week. However, The Late Show ratings have skyrocketed 60 percent higher than last season.

"I see them now and then. When they're good, I can't help it because people will e-mail me," Fallon told Esquire, about The Tonight Show's ratings. "When they're not good, when they're stagnant, I don't hear from anybody. I talked to Jay Leno about this—he told me, 'They're gonna go up and down. Don't worry about that side of it—just do your thing and have fun.' Other people get paid to worry about those things. I don't."

Fallon said the way Colbert will succeed is "by being him."

"He's not Letterman and I'm not Leno," he said. "No one's the new anyone. He's him, I'm me. Don't even compare us—to anybody. I'm me. He's him. Like, that's the way it is. We're totally ourselves. And that's the only way you're going to succeed. You have to be yourself, or else you can tell that it's ungenuine."

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Watch: Jimmy Fallon Shows Cute Baby Pics at 2015 Emmys