Jay Leno’s recovery from serious facial burns is no joke.
The comedian appeared on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” where the host marveled at how good Leno looks less than four months after he was badly injured in a car fire.
“You’d think there’d be a zipper here, but no,” Leno joked of his face during Wednesday’s episode. “This is like a brand-new face. Only for the second time in my career am I the new face of comedy. … That’s a brand new ear.”
Leno is an avid car collector who hosts the CNBC series “Jay Leno’s Garage.”
The 72-year-old spent eight days at a Southern California burn center after a car he was working on at his Los Angeles garage burst into flames on Nov. 12. The former “Tonight Show” star required surgery after suffering burns to his face, hands and chest, his doctor said at the time.
“It was all third-degree burns,” Leno said Wednesday. “It was pretty bad.”
Leno returned to the stand-up stage in Hermosa Beach, California, less than a week after being released from the Grossman Burn Center.
“He’s done remarkable,” Dr. Peter Grossman, who treated Leno, said on the talk show. “When I first saw Jay, I was a little uneasy. When I saw him, he was a little bit more significantly burned than I had hoped. Knowing that it’s Jay Leno and a face that everybody recognizes, there’s a little bit of angst going on there.”
Leno ended his appearance on “Kelly Clarkson” by gifting three nurses who treated him with trips to the Bahamas.
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