NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is going for the gold with a special episode following next month’s Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony.
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina, Italy, officially begin Friday, February 6—two days after early rounds of events such as curling, hockey and snowboarding commence. Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie and sports commentator Terry Gannon will be in the booth for NBC Olympics’ coverage of the Opening Ceremony, from San Siro Stadium in Milan, where they will be joined by snowboarding legend Shaun White.
Following Opening Ceremony coverage, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35 p.m. ET will air a special episode featuring guests Chris Hemsworth, MrBeast, and a musical performance from Lil Uzi Vert.
Update: In his February 5 telecast, Fallon also teased a Nick Jonas appearance and other “surprises.”
It will mark the first time The Tonight Show has aired a new Friday night episode since the show scaled down to four-nights-a-week in 2024, but fits into the show’s larger trend of leaning into NBC’s highly-rated sports programming. The show aired four special Sunday night episodes following Sunday Night Football this fall, and has been producing special backetball-themed episodes following NBC’s NBA coverage Tuesday nights.
NBC’s regular late-night programming is expected to go dark for two weeks after Fallon’s Opening Ceremony special as the network goes all-in on its coverage of the 2026 Winter Games.
Fallon, you may remember, co-hosted with NBC Olympics primetime host Mike Tirico the 2024 Olympics Closing Ceremony, from Paris’ Stade de France. Hosts have not yet been announced for this Winter Olympics’ Closing Ceremony, which will be held Sunday, February 22.
