Last Updated: June 24, 2025
11 min read
Table of content
Was this helpful?
Jimmy Fallon Opens Up About His Awkward “Date” with Nicole Kidman
Last Updated: June 24, 2025
Table of Contents
We’ve all had moments we wish we could redo, especially when it comes to dating.
But imagine finding out years later that what you thought was a casual hangout was actually a date with Nicole Kidman.
That’s exactly what happened to Jimmy Fallon, and this week, he added a fresh layer of awkwardness to the already legendary story.
Let’s discuss the hilarious and oh-so-human tale of how Fallon fumbled a chance with one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, all thanks to video games and a complete misunderstanding.
A Game of Missteps on The Tonight Show
On a recent episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the late-night host was chatting with guest Isabela Merced, known for her role in The Last of Us and Dora and the Lost City of Gold. While discussing the terrifying gameplay of The Last of Us, Fallon called it “one of the scariest video games I’ve ever played in my life.”
That’s when Merced, 23, playfully turned the conversation in an unexpected direction. “Was that the game you were playing when you bombed your date with Nicole Kidman?” she asked with a cheeky grin.
Cue the laughter and the awkwardness.
Fallon, 50, paused for a moment before joking, “It’s a pleasure meeting you,” pretending to end the interview right then and there.
But Merced didn’t let up.
When she pushed him for an answer, Fallon gave in and admitted, “No, we were playing Mario Kart. But thanks for bringing it up.” He then laughed and called the memory “the most embarrassing,” before quickly steering the chat back to the topic of the HBO series.
Rewind to the Original Cringe Moment
To really understand how wild this story is, we have to go back to January 2015. That’s when Nicole Kidman first appeared on Fallon’s show and casually dropped a truth bomb that caught the host completely off guard.
“It was really embarrassing for me,” Fallon told Kidman at the time, as they started reminiscing about their first encounter back in 2005.
What followed was a hilarious and painfully awkward recounting from both sides.
Kidman began by saying, “I just remember that I liked you and [a friend] was like, ‘Oh, you can meet [Jimmy].’”
She continued, “Our mutual friend says, ‘Jimmy wants to meet you. You can go over to his apartment.’ I’m single and I’m like, ‘OK, yeah, cool.’”
Fallon’s jaw nearly hit the floor. “Wait. What?! What are you talking about? Did I date Nicole Kidman?”
What Actually Happened That Day
According to Kidman, the “date” didn’t exactly go as expected. When she arrived at Fallon’s apartment, things got weird fast.
“You’re there in a baseball cap and you wouldn’t talk,” she told him. “You didn’t say anything. You were like, ‘Hey.’ I’m like, ‘OK.’ And then you put a video game on or something!”
Talk about a vibe killer.
Kidman summed it up perfectly for the audience. “It was so bad,” she said, laughing. “After about an hour and a half, I thought, ‘He has no interest. This is so embarrassing,’ and I left and went, ‘OK, no chemistry.’”
Fallon, completely stunned, insisted he had “no idea” the visit was supposed to be a date. Safe to say, this might go down as one of the most epic missed signals in celebrity history.
Where They Are Now
Luckily, things worked out just fine for both stars in the end.
Nicole Kidman went on to marry country music star Keith Urban in 2006. Together, they have two daughters, Sunday and Faith. She also shares two older children, Isabella and Connor, with her former husband, Tom Cruise.
Jimmy Fallon married producer Nancy Juvonen in 2007. The couple has two daughters, Winnie and Frances.
As for the infamous date that never really was? At least it gave us one of the funniest late-night stories ever.
Sometimes life throws us curveballs. And sometimes those curveballs involve Mario Kart, awkward silences, and the accidental ghosting of Nicole Kidman.
We can only thank Jimmy Fallon for sharing his embarrassment with the world and making us all feel a little better about our own dating disasters.
TL;DR
- Jimmy Fallon shared a new, awkward detail about his infamous failed “date” with Nicole Kidman.
- During an interview with The Last of Us star Isabela Merced, she jokingly brought up the story, asking if he had been playing that game when he bombed the date.
- Fallon clarified they were playing Mario Kart at the time, calling it “the most embarrassing” moment.
- The original story resurfaced in 2015 when Kidman appeared on Fallon’s show and revealed she thought their meetup years earlier was a date.
- Kidman said she was interested in Fallon and agreed to visit his apartment after a mutual friend set it up.
- When she arrived, Fallon wore a baseball cap, barely spoke, and started playing video games.
- Kidman felt there was “no chemistry” and left after about 90 minutes, thinking he wasn’t interested.
- Fallon was shocked by the revelation and insisted he had “no idea” it was a date.
- Kidman later married Keith Urban and has four children, while Fallon married Nancy Juvonen and has two daughters.
- The hilarious misunderstanding has become one of the most talked-about moments on The Tonight Show.
If you liked this, don’t forget to follow us for more news and stories like this one.
If you liked this, you might also like:
This article was made with AI assistance and human editing.
This is exclusive content for our subscribers
Enter your email address to subscribe and get instant FREE access to all of our articles
Author
Bee DeloresAuthor
Bee DeloresLover of hiking, biking, horror movies, cats and camping. Writer at Wide Open Country, Holler and Nashville Gab.
Was this helpful?
Share this post
Send feedback to NashvilleGab
We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback about this page with us.
Whether it's praise for something good, or ideas to improve something that
isn't quite right, we're excited to hear from you.
Lucky you! This thread is empty,
which means you've got dibs on the first comment.
Go for it!