Jay Leno says he is “okay” but in recovery after suffering “serious burns” from a gasoline fire. The former host of The Tonight Show said he would need “a week or two to get back on my feet” following the incident.
The US presenter and comedian took over NBC’s Tonight when long-time host Johnny Carson retired in 1992, and returned for another stint from 2010 to 2014, before handing over the reins to current host Jimmy Fallon. Further details about the incident were not given, though Leno is famed for his car collection housed in Burbank, north of Los Angeles.
“I got some serious burns from a gasoline fire,” he said in a statement shared with the PA news agency. “I am okay. Just need a week or two to get back on my feet.”
Leno, 72, turned his love of cars into a CNBC series, Jay Leno’s Garage, and now hosts a revival of the game show You Bet Your Life.
The Grossman Burn Center in Los Angeles, where Leno is being treated, said the celebrity was in a stable condition. It said in a statement to the KTLA TV station in Los Angeles: "He's receiving treatment here at the burn centre to his face and his hands from a gasoline accident in his garage over the weekend."
Leno had reportedly been set to appear at a financial conference in Las Vegas on Sunday but cancelled because of the “serious medical emergency". People magazine reported an email sent to those attending the conference saying: "All we know is that he is alive, so our prayers go out to him and his family tonight."
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