NEWSJay Leno Feels 'Very Lucky' Despite Wife Mavis' Advanced Dementia Battle: 'I Don't Complain'
Jay Leno's wife Mavis' dementia diagnosis was revealed in January 2024.
Jay Leno is still grateful despite several health woes plaguing him and his wife, Mavis, in recent years.
In an interview published Wednesday, October 16, the former Tonight Show host, 74, appeared to have an optimistic outlook on life amid his spouse's ongoing battle with advanced dementia and after the famed comedian faced a series of intense injuries himself during a 2022 fire in his garage.
Jay Leno said he doesn't 'complain' despite wife's neurological struggles.
"It's OK. You know, it's life. Everybody goes through it," Jay admitted when asked about Mavis' current condition. "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."
"She's good. She's good, you know? It's changes you have to make, but that's OK. That's OK," he declared of his wife — whom he's been married to for 44 years.
News broke regarding Mavis' dementia diagnosis in January 2024, when her husband filed for conservatorship over his wife.
In the court filing, Jay said Mavis "lacks the necessary capacity to execute the estate plan" due to "major neurocognitive disorders (including dementia)."
Jay Leno and his wife, Mavis, tied the knot in 1980.
The television personality's motion for a conservatorship over Mavis came roughly one year after he overcame his own series of serious injuries.
In November 2022, The Fairly Oddparents voice actor was working to fix a clogged fuel line in a 1907 White Steam Car inside of his garage when the vintage vehicle caught on fire.
Jay suffered third-degree burns on his face, as well as burns on his chest and hands. He was rushed to the hospital and underwent several surgeries and hyperbaric oxygen therapy before recovering at the Grossman Burn Center.
- Jay Leno Jokes He's Got 'A Brand New Face' After Comedian Suffered Severe Burns From Gasoline Fire
- Tim Allen Declares Jay Leno Is Still 'Handsome' After Sustaining Burns To His Face From Car Fire
- Jay Leno Shows Off Face & Body Scars As He's Discharged From Burn Center One Week After Horrifying Accident
Want OK! each day? Sign up here!
Jay Leno and his wife, Mavis, never welcomed any children together.
"I got burned in a fire. I got a face full of gas. A spark jumped. [It’s] not like, 'How did this happen?’ I mean, people get burned every day," Jay noted during the interview, pointing out how he felt his case in particular gained more attention because he was a celebrity.
Recalling his recovery, the Jay Leno's Garage star said he "was out in eight and a half days" from the hospital and only "missed two days" of work.
"So it wasn't bad. It was that is better than the broken leg, believe me," he quipped, referencing how he was involved in a motorcycle accident just two months after getting burned in the car fire.
"I was on my motorcycle, and the guy had to wire across a driveway but with no flag on it. And I turned, and the sun was in my eyes. And so it tore my face across," Jay detailed of the January 2023 incident.
Jay Leno suffered serious burns after a car he was working on caught fire in his garage.
Making light of the unfortunate situation, Jay joked: "[I] 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."
"You can't see the zipper, right?" he sarcastically stated. "I used to look like Abe Lincoln. Now, 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."
Fox News interviewed Jay.
