Jay Leno was shocked to be asked if he was thinking he might “get a girlfriend” as Mavis Leno, his wife of 45 years, battles dementia.”You take a vow when you get married, and people are stunned, they’re shocked when you live up to it,” the talk show legend said.Mavis Leno’s advanced dementia diagnosis was revealed in 2024, when her husband was granted conservatorship over her estate amid her declining health.<\/p>\n
Jay Leno<\/a> made a vow, and he’s sticking by it.\n<\/p>\n The iconic late-night veteran has remained steadfast by the side of his wife, Mavis Leno, since her advanced dementia diagnosis<\/a> was disclosed in 2024. Supporting his partner of 45 years is a no-brainer to Leno, but he’s learned it wouldn’t be to everyone in the same situation.\n<\/p>\n “You take a vow when you get married, and people are stunned, they’re shocked when you live up to it,” Leno told Maria Shriver on the latest episode of her Life Above the Noise<\/a> podcast.\n<\/p>\n “My favorite thing \u2014 this is the most Hollywood thing \u2014 a guy said to me, ‘So are you going to get a girlfriend now?'” Leno said he replied, “‘Well, no. I have a girlfriend. I’m married.’ We’ve been married 45 years, you know what I mean? [We’re] kind of in this together. You can’t go, ‘Honey, I’ll be with my girlfriend, I’ll be back later.”\n<\/p>\n Leno told Shriver that he’s “just doing the right thing because you’re supposed to. That kind of used to be the norm, and then when you strayed, that was the out-of-whack part. Now the out-of-whack part is fairly common, and staying and doing what you’re supposed to do is stunning to people. ‘Why do you do that?’ ‘Well, we kind of made a deal.'”\n<\/p>\n