Barring Monopoly, Mario Kart is probably the last game you want to play on a first date. Getting blue-shelled in the final lap brings out the worst kinds of rage and competitiveness in even the most emotionally regulated people, so it's probably best to save it until you're official. Jimmy Fallon clearly doesn't know this, as he once scared off Nicole Kidman by playing the racing game while unknowingly on a date with her.
Kidman first told the anecdote while she was a guest on The Tonight Show in 2015, though Fallon revealed he was under the impression they were doing a chemistry test for 2005's Bewitched. Because of this, Fallon didn't put much effort into the date and "put on a video game," and Kidman left.
The video game in question was finally revealed last night (May 20), when The Last of Us star Isabela Merced was a guest. Fallon said the show's titular game was one of the scariest video games he'd ever played, and Merced chirped back, "Was that the game you were playing when you bombed your date with Nicole Kidman?"
After pretending to cut to commercial, Fallon said, "No, we were playing Mario Kart, but thanks for bringing that up!" Merced then reminded him that 63 million people had seen the clip of him and Kidman talking about their disastrous date. We love to see a late-night host get ratioed!