Jimmy Kimmel received a "much-deserved standing ovation" upon his return to work

A source told People: "We gave Jimmy a much-deserved standing ovation at rehearsal."

The employee observed that everyone was "very happy" and "relieved" ahead of Jimmy's return to the air.

Jimmy was initially suspended after he suggested that Tyler Robinson, the man accused of fatally shooting Kirk at a university in Utah, was aligned to the Make America Great Again movement.

He said in an opening monologue: "We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving."

A staffer has now revealed that his upcoming monologue "will take all day" to write, as Jimmy will face so much scrutiny upon his return.

Earlier this week, the Walt Disney Company announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! was set to make a comeback.

The company said in a statement: "Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.

"We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday."

By contrast, Andrew Alford, the president of Nexstar's broadcasting division, previously defended the decision to take the TV show off the air.

He said: "Mr. Kimmel's comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located."