Jimmy Fallon almost had to have his finger amputated.

The 'Tonight Show' host was left in agony after tripping over wife Nancy Juvonen's favourite rug a few weeks ago, causing his ring to get caught and pull his digit out of place.

Returning to his presenting duties after a two-week break last night (13.07.15), he told his audience: ''So basically what happened is, I tripped and fell in my kitchen on a braided rug that my wife loves and I can't wait to burn it to the ground. I tripped and fell and I caught my fall... I'm getting up and my finger is sideways.

''So I go, 'Oh my god, did I just break my finger? This is the lamest thing in the whole wide world. It completely looks fake. It looks like a cheap horror movie where you see a broken finger.

''Basically what it is is that my ring got caught on the countertop when I was going down and stuck there and pulled my finger off.''

Jimmy sought treatment at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, and despite being warned the odds of keeping his finger ''weren't great'', doctors managed to save the digit and implanted a vein from his foot into his hand.

He added: ''Apparently the odds aren't great with these things. This happens a lot and the odds are not -- usually they're just gonna cut your finger off.''

It's expected to take up to eight weeks - following six hours of surgery and 10 days in an Intensive Care Unit - to have feeling in his hand again.