LOS ANGELES — Jay Leno has opened up again about his recent injuries and reconstructive surgeries.
On Wednesday’s episode of Dana Carvey and David Spade’s “Fly on The Wall” podcast, the longtime late-night TV host mused on his recovery from a recent motorcycle accident.
“This is a whole new face,” he told the podcast hosts.
In January, Leno revealed in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he “got knocked off my motorcycle” and broke several bones including his collarbone and two ribs. He also has “two cracked kneecaps.”
He told Spade and Carvey that the accident, in which he got “clotheslined” while on his motorcycle in a parking lot, left him with more than just broken bones.
“[The wire] cut my face again so I called my face guy. I go, ‘Listen. You know that face you gave me?'” Leno recalled. “‘I gotta get it fixed.'”
The accident occurred after Leno sustained severe burns to his face, chest and hands in a garage fire in November. He was hospitalized and underwent multiple surgeries, including reconstructive procedures.
“This is a brand new ear,” he said in the podcast. “When you get burned in a fire, ears are like paper. It just goes up.”
Spade complimented Leno on his new mug: “You look good.”
Since his recovery, Leno has been mining his accidents and surgeries for comedic material. On Nov. 27 he told paparazzi at the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach that he’s “the Elephant Man.” He also quipped about his burns.
“We got two shows tonight: regular and extra crispy,” he said.
In February he appeared on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” as a guest and kept his injury jokes going.
“Only for the second time in my career am I the new face of comedy,” he told the singer. “I got it once in the ’80s and now I get it.”
——
©2023 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
