The Media Proved How Truly Awful It Is by Posing This Question to Jay Leno

Caring for someone with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia is challenging, on a good day. This writer's uncle spent a decade caring for her aunt with Alzheimer's. She didn't recognize him, or their adult children, nor did she remember that one of their daughters died of cancer in 2013. It was a long road, but one handled with grace and tremendous love.

Comedian, car enthusiast, and former Tonight Show host Jay Leno is facing a similar road. His wife, Mavis, also has advanced dementia, and Leno is her caregiver. The couple has been married for 45 years, having met at the Comedy Store in L.A. in 1976. They married in 1980.

So Leno said he was stunned when a member of the media asked him if he planned on getting a girlfriend while caring for his wife.

Jay Leno shared he was stunned to be asked if he was planning on getting a girlfriend while acting as a caregiver to his wife of 45 years Mavis Leno amid her battle with advanced dementia. https://t.co/KOsfPYkJ9v pic.twitter.com/TGuCzFd23S
— E! News (@enews) January 15, 2026

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As the Tonight Show alum has acted as a caregiver to wife Mavis Leno during her battle with advanced dementia, he’s faced some shocking questions about his personal life.
“My favorite thing was—this is the most Hollywood thing,” Jay recently recalled on Life Above the Noise With Maria Shriver. “A guy said to me, ‘So, are you gonna get a girlfriend now?’”
The question surprised Jay, who responded, “‘Well no, I have a girlfriend. I’m married. Married 45 years.’”
To which he recalled the other guy saying, “‘Yeah, but you know what I mean.’”
But the comedian emphasized he is not interested in seeing other people. “No, we’re kinda in this together here,” Jay explained about taking care of Mavis through sickness and health, joking, “‘Honey, I’ll be with my girlfriend. I'll be back later.’”