The former NBC late-night show host struggles with constant pain after he suffered from third-degree burns while working on a car in his garage in November last year.
- Jun 1, 2023
AceShowbiz - Jay Leno constantly suffers from pain after being burned in a fire in 2022. The 73-year-old comic was left with third-degree burns in an explosion at his garage in November and broke multiple bones in a bike crash not long afterwards and, though he is still suffering the effects of the accidents, he insisted things are "not bad."
"I'm alright, I've got a broken collar bone and two broken ribs and a couple cracked knee caps, but I'm okay...There's a little pain, but it's not bad. Pain is constant, so if it's constant you're okay. Pain from a burn, after a while you get used to it and eventually it goes away, but it's not terrible," he told People magazine.
But Jay refuses to complain about his injuries because he doesn't want to be a "whiny actor." He added, "They were just accidents. Real people have accidents every day. When you're in show business people fawn all over you. And if you start whining and complaining about it you're a whiny, complaining actor. It's better if you just make jokes about it and have fun."
Despite his accidents, Jay's wife Mavis hasn't tried to call a halt to his passions for cars and bikes. He said, "She's fine with everything. As long as it's not other women and cocaine, I'm fine. It's better to catch on fire than be with another woman!"
The former "Tonight" star previously joked about his "brand new face" following the explosion. He said on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" weeks after the accident, "This is a brand new face, it's unbelievable. What happened was I was working on a car and I got a face full of gasoline and it set caught fire. I'd been eating a Flamin' Hot Dorito and when I bit into it, it set my face on fire!"
"No, no, but, it was interesting, it was all third-degrees so it was pretty bad. It was pretty bad. You'd think I would have a zipper [on my face] now, but no. Only for the second time in my career am I the new face of comedy! I got it once in the 1980s, and now I get it again! That's a brand new ear, too!"