The former Tonight Show host Jay Leno has had an extremely difficult few years, but he’s always maintained a positive attitude.
Many have been wondering how he keeps going despite the calamities he’s faced, and now he’s opening up about how he manages to stay upright among the chaos.
Leno’s Burn Accident
Leno’s personal struggles include a major burn accident. Back in 2022, he was working on one of his (many, many!) cars in his garage when an incident occurred that left him with third-degree burns on his face and put him in the ICU.
Leno explained the accident as frankly, not a surprise!
“I got burned in a fire. I got a face full of gas,” Leno told Fox News. “A spark jumped. [It’s] not like, ‘How did this happen?’ I mean, people get burned every day.”
Leno went on to say that he “was out” for over a week. Despite burns being considered among the most painful injuries, Leno said it wasn’t all that bad! “It was that is better than the broken leg, believe me.”
This was a reference to Leno breaking his leg in a motorcycle accident just two months after his burning incident.
I’ve never broken my leg or gotten third-degree burns, but I’ll take the former.
Related: Jay Leno Refuses To Complain Despite Devastating Accidents – ‘I’ve Got A Lot To Be Grateful For’
‘It Tore My Face Across’
“I was on my motorcycle, and the guy had a wire across a driveway but with no flag on it,” he recalled. “And I turned, and the sun was in my eyes. And so it tore my face across.”
Leno joked that he “had to call my face guy and go, ‘Listen, remember that new face you gave me? You got another face there? I need another one.’ [He said] ‘All right, come on,’ and he went and gave me another face,” adding, “You can’t see the zipper, right?”
“I used to look like Abe Lincoln,” he quipped with a laugh. “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.”
Typical Leno – he can even find the humor in extreme pain.
On top of all of that, Leno’s beloved wife Mavis, who he’s been married to for 44 years, has been battling advanced dementia.
“It’s OK. You know, it’s life. Everybody goes through it,” Leno said when asked how his wife is doing.
Watch Leno talk more about this in the video below.
Related: Jay Leno And His Wife Mavis Leaning On Their Christian Faith As She Battles Dementia
Leno Reveals How He Stays Positive
Despite all of these challenges, Leno still manages to stay positive.
“I’ve been very lucky in my life. I don’t complain about everything. We have a lot of fun, and I cook dinner for her every night,” Leno explained, referring to Mavis. “She’s good. She’s good, you know? It’s changes you have to make, but that’s OK. That’s OK.”
Leno also stays positive through his longtime passion for cars. He’s currently working on his YouTube series Jay Leno’s Garage.
“We do a new video every week, anything that rolls, explodes, makes noise,” Leno said of the show. “That’s pretty much it. Steam engines, motorcycles.”
‘It’s A Great Life’
As a lifelong lover of cars, Jay Leno’s Garage has allowed Leno the chance to make his true childhood dreams come true.
“You know, all these guys you used to read about when I was a kid, you know, you’d have your Hot Rod magazine in math class below the book, and you’re reading it, and you read about all these people,” he gushed. “So it was pretty cool.”
“I mean, it’s a great life,” Leno concluded.
Leno’s positive attitude despite all of the adversity that he has faced is truly inspiring. God bless you, Jay Leno!