Jimmy Kimmel used to wish his TV talk show would be cancelled.

The 57-year-old comedian has hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! since 2003, but he's confessed to struggling in the early years of the show's run.

During an appearance on the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, Jimmy shared: "I didn't know what I was doing, and I would pray that they cancelled the show sometimes.

"I didn't want to quit because I didn't want to disappoint all the many people who worked for me, but I couldn't ... I was just, I couldn't do it anymore."

Jimmy also struggled to find high-profile guests for his show in the early years.

He explained: "Now keep in mind this show was on, we'd go on the air live at midnight at 12:05 am, and there were times where it was 5:30 in the afternoon and we didn't have guests for that night's show. And I would just have to pick up the phone and call my friends. And that's not how you go into a show."

Jimmy recently returned to work after his TV show was suspended following controversial remarks that he made about Tyler Robinson, the man accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, the political activist, in September.

The comedian suggested that Robinson was aligned to the Make America Great Again movement.

He said in an opening monologue: "We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving."

Jimmy was initially suspended before the Walt Disney Company announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would make a comeback.

The company said in a statement: "Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.

"We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday."