Jimmy Fallon and Nicole Kidman almost make it through an interview without residual awkwardness from dating miss
It is 2021, and Jimmy Fallon and Nicole Kidman still cannot make it though an interview without at least winking at perhaps the greatest awkward moment in late-night TV: the 2016 interview in which Fallon learned in real time that he'd blown a chance to date Kidman a decade earlier. On Tuesday's Tonight Show, Kidman beamed in remotely to promote the season finale of her show Nine Perfect Strangers, and Fallon started off asking about Kidman's marriage to Keith Urban.
The first nod to that interview came about two minutes in, which Fallon said he doesn't like to be surprised. "I'll act surprised," he said. "Yes, we know that," Kidman said, and Fallon buried his head in a sheet of paper. About three and a half minutes into the interview, Kidman explained that she was with Urban in Las Vegas, "which is why I couldn't be with you, because I chose him." Then she appeared to realize how that came out. "Shut up, Nicole," she said. "I can't write this — what are we doing?" Fallon asked.
There's nothing like an icebreaker to make things less awkward, and Fallon's team picked a game called The Neverwed Game. "It's just like The Newlywed Game, where we try to match each other's answers, but we've never even dated," Fallon said. They did fine.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
- 
Political cartoons for November 2Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include the 22nd amendment, homeless camps, and more
 - 
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
 - 
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
 
- 
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
 - 
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
 - 
Television personalities who have come under fireIn Depth Jimmy Kimmel is the latest TV host to be swept up in controversy
 - 
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
 - 
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
 - 
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
 - 
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
 - 
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
 
