Fox News Channel host Greg Gutfeld’s first appearance on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” last Thursday delivered the program’s largest audience of the year.  

The “Gutfeld!” namesake joined Fallon from the iconic Studio 6B in Rockefeller Center, a stone’s throw from FOX News Media’s New York City headquarters in Manhattan. 

Gutfeld’s appearance drew 1.7 million viewers, marking the highest-rated “Tonight Show” of 2025 and giving the program a 57% increase compared to its year-to-date average of 1.1 million viewers, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. 

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Gutfeld’s appearance on NBC’s late-night show also attracted 294,000 viewers aged 25-54, the demographic most coveted by advertisers, for a 13% increase from 2025 average. Additionally, Gutfeld’s interview was last week’s most-watched guest segment on the YouTube channel of “The Tonight Show.”

During the crossover event, Gutfeld revealed how he first met the fellow late-night host.

After giving Fallon a warm embrace, Gutfeld quipped that it “brought back memories.”

“This is hilarious — we’ve met before,” Fallon began. 

“Yes, you have no memory of it,” Gutfeld responded. “Which is understandable, because we were wasted.”

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The “Gutfeld!” host said their encounter took place at an “illegal speakeasy” in Hell’s Kitchen roughly 15 years ago owned by their mutual friend Tracy, saying the inside looked “like a place where special ops forces waterboard terrorists.”

“You’re not making this up. I totally know what you’re talking about,” Fallon interjected as his memory was coming back to him. “I think I remember bringing beer into the bar, and then him charging me for my own beer.”

“That’s Tracy. He’s very cheap, but if you want somebody dead, he’ll do it,” Gutfeld joked. 

Gutfeld then said he and Fallon saw each other, and the latter’s eyes lit up.

“And you run towards me, and you tackle me, like you’re a giant golden retriever,” Gutfeld recalled. “You’re like on top of me. And so we’re wrestling. We’re wrestling. And then you change, and you start wrestling my buddy Andy, and you’re wrestling him. And you guys get on the ground. You guys are now on the ground wrestling.” 

“What?!” Fallon reacted in disbelief.

“Yes,” Gutfeld told him. “So, I pull out a cigarette. I light a cigarette, and I’m smoking it, and you stop, and you come over to me, and you grab it, and you crinkle it, and you go, ‘These things will kill you!’ and you threw it. And then I go, ‘Dude, I’m not rich. You’re rich.’ Cigarettes are expensive in New York City. I yell, and all of a sudden, your face changed, and you looked sad, and then you left.”

But, Gutfeld revealed, Fallon returned with a fresh pack just five minutes later and handed it to his future guest.

“I go, ‘That was really sweet. You want me to die,'” Gutfeld said, as Fallon and the audience laughed. 

“I’m sorry I tackled you,” Fallon said later with a grin. 

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“It was all very good-natured, and it was a great memory,” Gutfeld told the NBC host. “And I’m so glad I finally got to tell you!”

“I’m so happy,” Fallon replied. “That’s a true story… I remember. All the details you said are correct.”

Gutfeld and Fallon also discussed his FOX Nation game show, “What Did I Miss?”, where contestants who’ve been isolated for months try to pick real news from fake news. 

“Gutfeld!” was guest-hosted by Kat Timpf and continued its dominance on Thursday, finishing the night with the largest audience in late night across the board, with 2.7 million total viewers. 

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Fox News Channel’s “Gutfeld!” is the most-watched late-night program on television and regularly outdraws late-night offerings on NBC, CBS and ABC. Gutfeld is also co-host of “The Five,” alongside Dana Perino, Jesse Watters, Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr., which finished July as the most-watched cable news program in America. 

Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.