TV icon Jay Leno and his spouse, Mavis Leno, have been married for 4 a long time — and they’re nonetheless in love.
“We’ve got a good time. You need to marry a standard individual,” Jay mentioned throughout an look on The Kelly Clarkson Present in September 2023. “Guys say [to me] on a regular basis, ‘I met this lady, she’s loopy however the intercourse is unbelievable.’ I’m going to them, ‘You’re proper, however when the intercourse is over, she’s nonetheless loopy. Now, you might have 23 hours of loopy till [the] good-crazy hour comes again.’”
He continued, “I at all times [say], ‘Marry your conscience. Marry the individual you would like you would be, who’s type and possibly no matter fault you might have, doesn’t have these faults.’ That’s labored out for me, so to me, I married the right individual. It labored out good.”
Lower than one 12 months later, information broke in January 2024 that Mavis had been recognized with Alzheimer’s illness after Jay filed for a conservatorship on her behalf. (The pair didn’t handle Mavis’ analysis on the time. Us Weekly reached out for remark.)
Maintain scrolling to revisit Jay and Mavis’ full relationship timeline:
1976
Jay and Mavis first crossed paths in January 1976 when she went to his set at Los Angeles’ Comedy Retailer.
“On the time I assumed, ‘Holy s—t! That comic is attractive!” Mavis recalled to the Los Angeles Instances in September 2014. “I had gone to the Comedy Retailer with my girlfriend as a result of I used to be writing comedy with some companions. Mates saved saying, ‘You need to hang around on the Comedy Retailer and the Improv. You’ll meet individuals who can provide you jobs.’ The primary time I went, they sat us entrance row heart — which means you’re this removed from the comedian. And there was Jay.”
After Mavis acquired up from her seat to make use of the restroom, she bumped into Jay.
“I wanted to go to the women’ room. What I didn’t know was within the Comedy Retailer again then, that space was the one place for the comedians to hang around,” she added to the outlet. “So after I got here out of the lavatory, he mentioned, ‘Are you that lady in entrance?’ And I mentioned, ‘Sure, that was me.’”
Late Seventies
Jay has proclaimed that the couple’s engagement wasn’t essentially the most “romantic” option to pop the query.
“I had this insurance coverage coverage, and I assumed if one thing occurred to me, my girlfriend wouldn’t be coated, but when we’re married, we’re coated, so we’d as nicely get married,” he advised the Los Angeles Instances in 2014. “Not essentially the most romantic. Mavis didn’t even get an engagement ring till [2004].”
Mavis chimed in, reasoning they “simply purchased a home” collectively as an alternative. “So why would I try this?” she quipped. “I’m not that form of individual.”
Jay and Mavis nonetheless reside in the identical Beverly Hills residence.
November 1980
Jay and Mavis wed after 4 years collectively regardless of Mavis as soon as proclaiming she by no means wished to stroll down the aisle.
“I at all times had this concept that I might by no means get married,” Mavis beforehand advised Folks in a 1987 profile of Jay. “It was a giant factor with me, a part of my vehement feminism. However with Jay, I started to understand that this was the primary time I used to be ever with somebody the place I had an ideal, calm sense of getting arrived at my vacation spot.”
Almost 10 years later, Jay started internet hosting The Tonight Present and Mavis remained his greatest supporter.
June 2012
Jay made positive to provide Mavis a candy shout-out when he accomplished Us Weekly’s 25 Issues You Don’t Know About Me function.
“My spouse and I’ve been married for 32 years,” he advised Us. “No children, however we have now a cat.”
October 2014
The couple by no means had kids collectively as a result of Mavis’ long-held preferences.
“I bear in mind telling my mom after I was 7 or 8 that I used to be by no means going to get married or have kids. To me, that is the way in which ladies get caught,” she quipped to the Washington Submit in 2014.
Jay retired from The Tonight Present later that 12 months earlier than Jimmy Fallon took over the timeslot.
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November 2022
Jay suffered severe burns throughout a storage gasoline fireplace, which requested a number of surgical procedures. Earlier than Jay was transported to the hospital for remedy, he requested a pit cease at house to tell and decide up Mavis.
“My spouse doesn’t drive anymore and I didn’t need her caught and never understanding what was happening,” Jay mentioned throughout a December 2022 look on the At this time present. “It simply appeared like the appropriate factor to do, and I believe it was.”
Mavis remained at his aspect all through his restoration.
January 2024
Us confirmed that Jay filed a request for a conservatorship over Mavis’ property. TMZ reported that Mavis suffers from Alzheimer’s illness, which was the inspiration for Jay’s movement.
Neither Jay nor Mavis have publicly confirmed her analysis.
