Jay Leno, 75, says he has found a sense of purpose and happiness in caring for his wife, Mavis Leno, following her dementia diagnosis.
The former Tonight Show host, known for his decades-long career in late-night television, opened up about the daily responsibilities of caregiving. The couple met in the 1970s at a comedy club in Los Angeles and married in 1980. In April last year, Leno was granted conservatorship over Mavis’s estate following her diagnosis.
“I’m not a woe-is-me person,” he told PEOPLE, before adding a sweet 12-word admission, “I’m just lucky that I am able to take care of her.”
“It’s not work, because people come up, and say they feel so sorry. I understand the sympathy, because I know a lot of people are going through it, but it’s OK,” he said. “I like taking care of her. I enjoy her company, and we have a good time. We have fun with it, and it is what it is.”
Reflecting on their life together, Leno described this stage as just another chapter in their lives. “There are going to be a couple of years that are tricky. So, the first 46, really great. But it’s OK. It’s not terrible. I’m not a woe-is-me person. I’m just lucky that I am able to take care of her,” he said.
On the In Depth with Graham Bensinger podcast in April, Leno opened up about the commitment saying, “At some point in my life, I’m going to be called upon to defend myself.
“I think that’s really what defines a marriage. I mean, that’s really what love is. That’s what you do. I mean, I’m glad I didn’t cut and run. I’m glad I didn’t run off with some woman half my age or any of that silly nonsense. I would rather be with her than doing something else,” he told host Graham Bensinger.
Speaking to People in September, he explained that even on busy days he makes a point of coming home to Mavis. “I come home every day. I went to Puerto Rico for the day and [the] plane waited, and I came right back. That’s what I do. I try to be home every night.”
Meanwhile, other celebrity caregivers have shared similar struggles. In August 2024, Yvette Nicole Brown described the “heartbreaking, guilt-ridden choice” of placing her father, who has Alzheimer’s, into a care home after caring for him for over a decade. “No longer having my dad with me every day breaks my heart, but I know — just as I did when I left ‘Community’ to care for him — I’ve made the right decision for him. His needs come first, always,” she said.
Emma Heming Willis also spoke about supporting her husband, Bruce Willis, who has frontotemporal dementia. She moved him into a home with round-the-clock care to prioritize their daughters.
“But I knew, first and foremost, Bruce would want that for our daughters. You know, he would want them to be in a home that was more tailored to their needs, not his needs,” she told Diane Sawyer for an ABC Special in September.