Jay Leno is opening up about the challenges that come with looking after wife, Mavis, who has advanced dementia.

In April 2024, the former “Tonight Show” host was granted conservatorship over her estate after her diagnosis was revealed in January of that year.

The Lenos have been married for 45 years, but the last few have been hard as he takes care of her .

He recalled an especially difficult morning ritual Mavis developed. “I mean, probably the toughest part was, every day she’d wake up and realize someone had called today to tell her her mother had passed away,” Jay Leno said in an interview with Hoda Kotb that aired Nov. 20 on TODAY.

Mavis Leno (left) and husband Jay Leno (right) attend the 2012 Vanity Fair Oscar Party at Sunset Tower on Feb. 26, 2012 in West Hollywood, Cali

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