Jay Leno Has Only Good Thoughts About His Life Amid Wife’s Dementia Battle

Jay Leno said he’s been very lucky and has only good thoughts about his life amid his wife Mavis’ dementia battle.

Speaking to Fox News, the 74-year-old former late-night talk show host and comedian said he didn’t focus on the struggles he’s faced over the last few years, after having to be hospitalized with third-degree burns to his hands and face from a car fire and breaking multiple bones in a motorcycle accident, after his wife’s diagnosis was revealed earlier this year.

“I got burned in a fire. I got a face full of gas,” Leno said. “A spark jumped. [It’s] not like, ‘How did this happen?’ I mean, people get burned every day.”

Leno — who was in the hospital for eight and a half days — said he “missed two days’ work. So it wasn’t bad. It was — that is better than the broken leg, believe me.”

“I was on my motorcycle, and the guy had to wire across a driveway, but with no flag on it,” the comedian said. “And I turned, and the sun was in my eyes. And so it tore my face across.”

Jay Leno feels ‘very lucky’ despite burn accident, challenges with wife’s dementia battle https://t.co/nNuTN0M93x

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 16, 2024

“I used to look like Abe Lincoln” he jokingly added. “No, I look exactly the same, just a better version … I’m saving face, put it that way. Or I’m a two-faced guy, any way you want to take it.”

Later, he opened up about his wife of 44 years and said she was doing good.

“It’s OK. You know, it’s life,” Leno said. “Everybody goes through it.”

“I’ve been very lucky in my life. I don’t complain about everything,” he added. “We have a lot of fun, and I cook dinner for her every night.”

MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ COMING TO DAILYWIRE+ OCT. 28

“She’s good. She’s good, you know?” Leno continued. “It’s changes you have to make, but that’s OK. That’s OK.” 

In January, the former “The Tonight Show” host filed the paperwork in a Los Angeles courtroom to become the conservator of his wife’s estate following her dementia diagnosis, as previously reported. The documents said that Leno’s wife “presently lacks the necessary capacity” to make her own decisions.

“Unfortunately, Mavis has been progressively losing capacity and orientation to space and time for several years,” the filing said. Mavis’ doctor added a capacity declaration confirming that Leno’s spouse “suffers from dementia, major neurocognitive disorder.”

Amanda Harding contributed to this piece.

Related: Jay Leno Files For Conservatorship Of Wife’s Estate Amid Her Dementia Diagnosis