Jay Leno has recalled how his pillow ‘melted’ to his face after his horrific car fire, which saw him suffer serious burns.
The 73-year-old comedian was treated for third degree burns and ended up with a ‘brand-new ear’ after a garage fire in November 2022.
He received a face full of gas which was ignited while tinkering underneath his 1907 White Steam Car, resulting in his face catching fire.
Talking to Piers Morgan – who’s been busy crowing over Barbie’s Oscars snubs – in a new interview about the terrifying accident, the former Tonight Show host revealed further grim details of the aftermath.
Jay explained that he had initially driven himself to hospital and checked in before promising he would return in the morning with his wife of over 40 years, Mavis, who no longer drives.
‘My face [had been] on fire and I went to bed and when I woke up, the pillow had melted to my face!’ he told Piers on his show, Uncensored, speaking from the garage that houses his vehicles.
Former talk show host Jay Leno recalled the gruesome new detail about his car fire injuries (Picture: TalkTV)
Piers Morgan asked him about the 2022 accident, in which Jay’s face caught fire (Picture: TalkTV)
As the broadcaster recoiled in horror, Jay added, ‘So I’m sitting there with scissors, cutting the pillow [off].’
He accompanied the gruesome anecdote with his fingers moving up his face in a snipping motion, and sound effects.
‘When I drove back to hospital, they took the pillow off my face,’ Jay then laughed, as he recalled that he had lost several layers of skin in the fire.
Upon his release from hospital, Leno had posed for a picture with several staff members, which showed visible burn scars on his face, neck and hand and thanked them for the care he had received.
The comic, pictured here in 2018, received a ‘brand-new ear’ after sustaining burns to roughly seven per cent of his body and face (Picture: John Salangsang/Invision/AP)
Jay pictured the day after he was released from hospital following a nine-day stint to recover (Picture: Splash News)
Despite facing a traumatic incident, in which he was ‘seconds away’ from losing an eye, Jay previously revealed he was determined to remain positive and not ‘whine’ about it.
He told PageSix: ‘Look, when you’re in my position, when you’re any kind of celebrity, you’re luckier than most people.
‘So, when something bad happens to you, you can’t whine and complain about it because bad things happen to people every day – either they get burned or they get cut – and they don’t have the financial wherewithal I did.’
The renown motor enthusiast, who boasts a collection of around 180 cars and 160 motorcycles, has not let this and other brushes with death deter his passion.
The car nut still enjoys his high value collection (Picture: APEX / MEGA)
He was pictured behind the wheel of his silver vintage Bentley in the annual Rodeo Drive Concourse D’Elegance event last June, which he owns alongside a McLaren F1, an orange 967 Lamborghini Miura P400 and a couple of Morgans.
His most expensive car is understood to be his 1934 Duesenberg Walker Coup, valued at a massive $20 million, owing to its exclusivity and unique engine configuration, while Jay also has a ‘priceless’ car he collaborated on with GM to design – the 2006 Jay Leno Ecojet Concept.
Overall, his cars are thought to be worth around $52million (£40.9m), according to DuPont Registry estimates in July 2022.
Piers Morgan Uncensored airs weeknights at 8pm on TalkTV.
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Jay Leno sustained third degree burns in the 2022 petrol fire.