After more than a week off, Jimmy Fallon returned to The Tonight Show on Monday following the death of his mother, Gloria Fallon.
“It’s good to be back, guys,” he said at the beginning of the show.
“As some of you know my mother, Gloria, passed away recently. I cancelled our shows last week to be with my family and make arrangements. She was the best audience, she was the one I was always trying to make laugh, and she was such a fan of the show and everything I did.”
“When we were little, my mum would walk us to this store, me and my sister, and she would squeeze my hand three times and say, ‘I love you,’ and I would squeeze back, ‘I love you, too,'” he continued while holding back tears.
Jimmy’s late mother, Gloria
“And… last week I was in the hospital and I grabbed her and squeezed I love you. I just knew we were in trouble, you know? I feel so grateful to be able to do this every single night and I’m very appreciative of all the support from all of you that my family received over the past week.”
“We’re going to continue to work really hard to bring some light and some laughter into the world. Thank you for watching, thank you for helping me and my family recover from this loss. Mum, I’ll never stop trying to make you laugh. I love you,” Jimmy concluded his emotional on-air tribute. (You can watch the full video above.)
In the hours after Gloria’s passing on Saturday, Nov. 4 at age 68, Jimmy told Us Weekly, “Today I lost my biggest fan.”
Jimmy with his wife Nancy and their two girls Winnie and Frances
NBC also released a message. It read, “On behalf of everyone at NBC, we extend our deepest condolences to Jimmy and all his family at this time of enormous loss. Our hearts go out to Jimmy and everyone else whose lives were so touched by Gloria Fallon’s love, kindness, and support.”
One day before Gloria died, Jimmy suddenly cancelled his Friday, Nov. 3 taping of The Tonight Show due to a “private Fallon family matter.” A rep soon after confirmed Gloria had passed away. “Jimmy Fallon’s mother, Gloria, died peacefully on Saturday,” the spokesperson revealed in a statement to People. “Jimmy was at his mother’s bedside, along with her loved ones, when she passed away at NYU Langone Medical Center in NYC. Our prayers go out to Jimmy and his family as they go through this tough time.”
This story originally appeared on Closer Weekly.
