Jimmy Kimmel: ‘the worst-smelling guests are the best-looking guys’


A moment that still lives rent-free in my head is Jimmy Kimmel’s clapback to Trump at the end of hosting the Oscars: “Isn’t it past your jail time?” Still good. I guess it’s also been on my mind as the criminal trial has been unfolding in NYC (I know, I know, don’t get your hopes up Kismet). Jimmy appeared on Seth Meyers’ show the other day, and Seth started by asking Jimmy if he had plans to check out the trial scene while he’s in town. He does not. Jimmy then got around to dropping some fragrant tea. Seth commented on Jimmy having been a late night host for nearly 22 years now (yikes, when did that happen?!), and prodded Jimmy for some insight. Pulling from his decades of research in the field, Jimmy shared that “the worst-smelling guests are the best-looking guys.” Go on…

Seth Meyers: Are there things you notice over 20+ years of doing this?

Jimmy Kimmel: No, not really. But… I wonder what you think about this. One of the things we get to experience as a talk show host that the home viewers don’t… is the smell of the guests. I found that the worst-smelling guests are the best-looking guys… Some of these guys who’ve been on the cover of People Magazine, sexiest man alive, they have an odor. Like an, ‘I don’t need to wear deodorant because I’m that attractive.’ I think they do it to try to tamp it down a bit, the attractive factor. Like in the way porcupines have quills, to keep the predators from eating them.

SM: I like that. And to keep the predators from having sex with them…

JK: But some guys are so good looking. Like, you’re a good looking guy, but not so good looking that you could afford to not bathe.

SM: Thank you.

JK: For me, with this face, I have to smell really good. You know. I have to be minty fresh at all times.

SM: Even today you said, ‘I need a dressing room with a shower.’

[Transcript from YouTube via SOW]

I love this — now every guest who thinks he’s a knockout in the looks department will be on high alert to bathe in cologne before appearing on Kimmel. Or at the very least, some poor person on their team will be responsible for doing sniff tests before releasing their star to the El Capitan Entertainment Center. Oh please let there be an intern on Kimmel’s staff tasked with keeping a database to track celebs with fragrances! It’s for science, people!! Jimmy was careful not to name the stinkers… but guess who’s been on his show 10 times according to IMDb? None other than Jake Gyllenhaal, patient zero for the great unwashed celebrities bathing debate of 2021! Of course I’m not saying outright that Gyllenhaal was the guest who made Kimmel first notice the correlation between “attractiveness” and “stank,” particularly because he’s never been Sexiest Man Alive. But it does smell right.

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16 Responses to “Jimmy Kimmel: ‘the worst-smelling guests are the best-looking guys’”

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  1. ProfHurkleDurkle says:

    My bestie and I started watching Orlando Bloom’s new series where he does a bunch of daredevil stunts, and we couldn’t get past the first episode, primarily because it’s immensely boring, but also because his hair is distractingly filthy. He just looks like he smells terrible. I felt sorry for anyone who had to be near him during the shoot, if he smells as rancid as he looks.

  2. Persephone says:

    Yup. I was thinking the same when I read the headline.
    JG strikes me as someone who thinks a lot of himself, to say the least.

  3. Dandelion2 says:

    Matthew McConaughey comes to mind.

  4. Sweet Tooth says:

    Brad Pitt: period, point blank, the end.

    • StillDouchesOfCambridge says:

      All those dudes are probably smokers and pot smokers and alcohol drinkers, they are probably busier than the ugly azz dudes, so they might have less time to shower and wing it thinking they smell alright. (Yes brad pitt. I would imagine matthew mccaunahey whatever I can’t spell that, chris hemsworth. But george cloney smells good im sure)

  5. Joanne says:

    Personally, I find Jimmy Kimmel much more attractive than Jake Gyllenhaal. Jake looks smug, superior and finds himself as the smartest person around. Jimmy seems warm, open and friendly which really adds to his attractiveness.

    • Dani says:

      agreed!

    • East Villager says:

      Many years ago when I worked at MTV and Jimmy used to guest host sometimes with Kelly Ripa, sometimes I’d ride in the elevator with him – and I can confirm that he is very tall, very attractive and extremely friendly. Also I thought it spoke volumes about the kind of person he is that he thanked his baby’s heart surgeon by name on TV (doctors never, ever get thanked like that).

  6. Korra says:

    A lot of offenders have already been named, but I recall a story my friend told me when she was working in the industry about how unhygienic and smelly Robert Pattinson used to be during his Twilight era. I retch thinking about it.

  7. It Really Is You, Not Me says:

    Almost 30 years ago I remember a local radio station talking about how much Keanu Reeves stunk up the whole booth. He was there with his band at that time. I never ever forgot that so I feel an ewww factor every time I see a picture of Keanu.

  8. Bumblebee says:

    Maybe they get to a certain level of fame and have good enough looks, that people just don’t tell them ‘you stink!’

  9. Grant says:

    I just don’t understand people who don’t like bathing. Some people are afraid of anti-perspirant/deodorant b/c of … aluminum? Artificial scents? IDK. I use Native and like it a lot (although it can be a bit clumpy). But I LOVE to take a bath and/or shower, I feel rejuvenated when I’m all clean. Some people are so weird/nasty! It doesn’t matter how hot you are if you’re stinky IMO.

  10. chloeee says:

    man when I was around 14-15 I had a next level crush on Jake Gyllenhaal that lasted so many years, it’s amazing to see how impressively that has crashed and burned in the last decade for so many reasons.

  11. Bqm says:

    I’ve met, and hugged, Chris Evans four times and he smells DIVINE. Sigh. And I’m very keen to smells and also get migraines from strong scents. Whatever soap, cologne, combo he uses is just right. Sigh again.

    • East Villager says:

      I don’t know under what circumstances these hugs occurred but I am jealous.