TODAY
Jay Leno sat down for his first interview since suffering severe burns on his hands and chest and third-degree burns on his face.
The incident occurred on November 12th when Jay Leno was working on one of his cars at his private garage in Los Angeles. Leno was hospitalized for a week afterward while being treated for severe burns across his body.
Sitting for the first interview since his accident, Jay Leno told TODAY‘s Hota Kotb about how it all happened. Leno revealed he was working on a 1907 steam engine car. He was clearing a fuel line when it sprayed gas onto his face and a nearby pilot light caused the gas to erupt, burning his face, hands, and chest.
Jay was in good spirits for the interview. He joked that he ‘had to get on fire to get on the TODAY show’. He also revealed that President Biden called him while he was in the hospital. Jay joked that he was surprised Biden ‘didn’t have more important things to do’ than call him in the hospital.
Leno told Hoda “So I was underneath it, trying to clog, and I said, ‘Blow some air through the line. Then suddenly, boom, I got a face full of gas. And then the pilot light jumped, and my face caught on fire.”
He went on to say that his friend pulled him out and jumped on top of him to ‘smother the fire’ and extinguish the flames. But by that point, Jay Leno had already received third-degree burns on his face and bad burns on his hands and chest.
During his week in the hospital in LA, Jay Leno underwent ‘hyperbaric treatment’ according to NBC News. This form of oxygen treatment “can accelerate burn wound healing.”
The 10-minute interview covered Jay Leno’s plans for the future and his ongoing recovery from burns. He seemed to be in great spirits throughout and honestly, his looks incredible for someone who suffered thrid-degree burns just one month ago.
Leno has had one of the longest and most successful careers of any comedian in the business. He hosted The Tonight Show from 1992 to 2009. But it was this moment from the Windows 95 launch he might be best remembered for on the Internet:
1995 was incredible.