Between Jay Leno’s burn accident in November 2022 and the news of wife Mavis’ advanced dementia diagnosis coming out publicly this past January, the couple has had their fair share of tough times.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, the couple, who were out to celebrate and present the inaugural Mavis Leno Award for Global Women’s Rights, said life is better than ever.
“All of that,” Leno said when asked if his faith and family have helped pull the couple together recently. “Exactly. It’s the whole thing. We’ve been married 44 years. It gets easier. It doesn’t get harder.”
JAY LENO GRANTED CONSERVATORSHIP OVER WIFE MAVIS DUE TO HER DEMENTIA DIAGNOSIS
Jay Leno and wife Mavis attend the 16th annual Global Women’s Rights Awards. (Nina Zacuto)
In January, Leno filed legal papers in a Los Angeles court requesting to be the appointed conservator for his wife as her health deteriorated, according to documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
“[Mavis] lacks the necessary capacity to execute the estate plan” due to her “major neurocognitive disorders (including dementia),” the court documents stated.
He included in the documents that he and his wife have had a “loving marriage for more than 43 years,” adding he “has always handled the couple’s finances.”
“All of that. Exactly. It’s the whole thing. We’ve been married 44 years. It gets easier. It doesn’t get harder.”
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In the documents, it was revealed he began the process of filling out the paperwork back in Nov. 2023. The conservatorship was granted by a judge in April.
In April, Jay Leno was granted conservatorship over wife Mavis’ estate due to her dementia diagnosis. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Leno has had his own health issues. He was badly burned while working on one of his cars in his garage on Nov. 12, 2022. The accident left him in the ICU. He needed multiple skin graft surgeries for the third-degree burns to the side of his face.
Despite their health struggles and Leno’s celebrity status, the two are just a normal husband and wife.
“We do everything together,” Leno told Fox News Digital on the carpet at the Feminist Majority Foundation’s 16th annual Global Women’s Rights Awards Gala on May 14. “I go home every night, make dinner and sit around. We enjoy each other’s company.”
WATCH: JAY LENO, WIFE MAVIS ON 44-YEAR MARRIAGE
The couple first met at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles before Leno shot to fame in 1976. They later married in 1980 and never had kids.
Next year they will celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary, but Leno said he hasn’t focused much on the big celebration just yet.
“I haven’t thought about that,” Leno said. “It’ll be similar to the 43rd and the 44th.”
Jay Leno and Mavis have been married for almost 44 years after first meeting at the Comedy Store in the ’70s. (NBC)
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While addressing the night’s attendees, Leno shared a joke about giving marriage advice once to a young Drew Barrymore before she got married (and subsequently divorced) on “The Tonight Show.”
Leno said he told Barrymore, “‘Marry your conscience. Marry the person you wish you could be.'” He joked that he’s glad his wife didn’t do that, saying, “That’s kind of how you stay married for 44 years.”
Leno wasn’t all jokes, though.
While taking the stage to address the crowd, he choked back tears as he recalled the first time he saw his wife, even referring to marrying Mavis as “the smartest thing I’ve ever done.”
Jay Leno spoke about his marriage to Mavis during his speech, saying, “People say marriage is difficult. I don’t get it. I enjoy her company. I enjoy taking care of her.” (Nina Zacuto)
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“I had to smile when I saw that young college girl come out, which reminded me of a young girl I met,” Leno said as he tried to hold back his emotions after a young woman’s speech. “She [Mavis] had the same fire. A couple weeks later, I told a story of picking up the front page of a paper with a picture of her [Mavis]. [I thought] this is going to be a fascinating relationship, and it has been.”
“We have a lot of fun,” Leno added of the times with his wife as he constantly hugged and kissed her head. “People say marriage is difficult. I don’t get it. I enjoy her company. I enjoy taking care of her. We have fun. She’s the most independent woman I ever knew. Again, I just couldn’t be prouder of her.”
Leno continued, “I am part of her legacy and that’s what I’m proudest of.”