Photo: Charlotte Rutherford

Justin Timberlake was the musical guest on the Monday, March 11 episode of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! — but apparently, he and Jimmy got their signals crossed.

Kimmel’s studio audience and TV viewers were surprised when JT was announced as Monday’s host, supposedly to give Jimmy a rest following his Oscars hosting gig a night earlier.

“Did you guys watch the Oscars last night?” Timberlake asked the audience, before joking, “I haven’t seen that many stars since Joey Fatone elbowed me in the face.”

Justin went on to explain that Kimmel was “pretty beat,” making a drinking gesture with his hands to insinuate that Jimmy had been partying all night.

Just then, a puzzled Kimmel entered the stage to cheers from the audience.

“I’m confused, why are you here,” asked Justin, to which Jimmy shot back, “Well, I’m confused, why are you here?”

After clarifying that Justin was the musical guest and not the guest host, Kimmel asked why he would need a guest host, to which Timberlake reiterated his earlier claim that that Jimmy had been “out all night at the Oscar after-parties.”

“Really, I went to one party and went to bed.”

“That’s so sad,” Justin replied.

“It is?” asked Kimmel, to which Timberlake, after a bit of thought, answered, “Yeah.”

The bit closed with Jimmy assuring Timberlake, “Since the beginning, you’ve always been my favorite Justin.”

“And since the beginning, you’ve always been my second favorite Jimmy,” quipped Justin, referring to Kimmel’s late-night rival — and JT’s bestie — Jimmy Fallon.

When it finally was his turn to take the stage, Justin delivered the world-premiere performance of “No Angels,” from his album, Everything I Thought It Was, coming out Friday, March 15.

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