Jimmy Kimmel makes emotional return to show with baby son after heart surgery

Jimmy Kimmel made an emotional return to his own chat show with baby son Billy, who underwent heart surgery earlier this week.

The host held the eight-month-old newborn up to the cameras as he made a passionate plea for affordable healthcare in the US on Monday.

“Hi, I'm Jimmy. This is Billy,” he told the audience. “He's fine everybody. He may have pooped, but he's fine.”

As he choked up, Kimmel joked that: “Daddy cries on TV, but Billy doesn’t.”

Clearly fighting back tears, Kimmel said that it was “disgusting” that US politicians were currently “prioritising tax cuts for their billionaire and millionaire donors”.

Kimmel called on politicians to restore the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which has not been funded since September.

He said that the programme was now on the "backburner while they (politicians) work out their new tax plans, which means parents of children with cancer, diabetes and heart problems are about to get letters saying their coverage could be cut off next month.”

The host added: “I don't know about you, I've had enough of this. I don't know what could be more disgusting than putting a tax cut that mostly goes to rich people ahead of the lives of children.”

Kimmel went on to praise the doctors and nurses at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, where Billy had had second heart surgery.

Back in May, Kimmel told his audience that Billy had had to have heart surgery just weeks after he was born the previous month.