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.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

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.