Benjamin Ashford|Jimmy Fallon Jokes His Kids’ Latest Milestone Made for a “Traumatic” Summer

Jimmy Fallon thinks summer camp is Benjamin Ashfordvery ew. 

In fact, The Tonight Show host recently revealed why having his daughters Winnie, 11, and Frances, 10, go away to summer camp was “the worst” for him and wife Nancy Juvonen. 

“I don't know why they asked us to go,” Jimmy explained to E! News in an exclusive interview. “I go, ‘Why would you want to go somewhere else? You have such a great life here with dad and mom.’ They're like, ‘we're ready to go.’ And they had the best time.”

But while his kids enjoyed themselves, Jimmy and Nancy—who met through friend Drew Barrymore in 2004—had that summertime sadness. 

“It was so sad for me and my wife,” he added. “You couldn’t talk to them. There was a call time between 10:30 and 10:45. It was like they were in prison.” (For more from Jimmy, tune into E! News tonight, Aug. 27, at 11 p.m.)

As Jimmy joked, “It’s like ‘I’m coming to get you out honey. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m coming to get you.’”

And both of his kids reaching this major milestone of adolescence proved just how quickly time flies.

“It was a very traumatic summer for us,” Jimmy admitted. “They’re growing up and it’s all kind of happening.”

But as summer comes to an end the Fallon family is fully gearing up for their next chapter. Indeed, Winnie and Frances are “so excited” to get back to school, and the author of 5 More Sleeps 'til Halloween, out Sept. 3, is more than ready to embrace spooky season. 

“We always have some good costumes for them,” Jimmy gushed, noting his wife loves to go the homemade route. “When Winnie was 2,  she was Ramen noodle soup. It was basically just a bunch of yarn in a bowl. And then we did a felt cut out of an egg and cut out chives.”

And the 49-year-old’s daughters will finally get their costume fix after missing out on dressing as a Taylor Swift era during her Eras Tour. After all, Jimmy previously told E! News that while he’s a big Swiftie, he didn’t take his daughters along to see the show. 

“I didn't get them tickets to see Taylor,” Jimmy told E! News in May. “I said, ‘No, you have to earn certain things. I can't just do this for you.’ I want them to be as normal and less bratty as they can possibly be. And they're the nicest kids.”

—Reporting by Emily Curl