The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is set welcome another high-wattage guest for what is traditionally its most-watched late-night episode of the year, with global superstar Ed Sheeran set to join Jimmy Fallon‘s Thanksgiving night broadcast.
Sources tell LateNighter that Sheeran pretaped his appearance earlier this week, tied to the rollout of One Shot with Ed Sheeran, his new hour-long Netflix special, dropping this Friday. Sheeran was later joined by Philip Barantini, who directed the project and appeared alongside the singer-songwriter on the couch to discuss their collaboration.
The booking marks Sheeran’s first visit to Fallon since March, when he and the host staged a surprise Undercover Subway Performance. He remains one of Fallon’s most reliable guests, easily shifting between musical bits, comedy setups and more traditional talk segments.
Also set to join Fallon Thanksgiving night are Stranger Things star Joe Keery and musician Brad Paisley.
Thanksgiving is a tentpole day for NBC, anchoring some of the biggest audiences on television all year. Last year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade drew 31.3 million viewers across NBC and Peacock—the highest number for an entertainment telecast since the 2020 Oscars. Primetime continued the surge with the Green Bay Packers vs. Miami Dolphins NFL matchup pulling 26.6 million viewers, topping 26 million for the third consecutive year. That momentum carried straight into late night, where Fallon reached 2.6 million viewers, his largest audience of the year, followed by Late Night With Seth Meyers at 1.3 million.
Fallon isn’t the only NBC host leaning into Thanksgiving tradition. NBC announced Thursday that, in what has become another annual ritual, Seth Meyers will once again welcome his brother Josh Meyers and their parents Hillary and Larry to Late Night. The family episodes have become staples of NBC’s holiday night programming, pairing unusually personal storytelling with the ratings lift that comes with the NFL lead-in.
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