Jay Leno: I Was Blindsided When Conan O'Brien Replaced Me, but Jimmy Fallon Makes Perfect Sense as Tonight Host

Late-night host talks about being replaced during an upcoming edition of 60 Minutes

By Peter Gicas Jan 24, 2014 7:45 PMTags
Jay LenoNBC Photo: Justin Lubin

Talk-show host Jay Leno is, well, talking about losing The Tonight Show not once, but twice now.

On Sunday's edition of 60 Minutes, Leno recalls how it felt when he initially learned back in 2004 that NBC would be replacing him as host of the popular late-night program with Conan O'Brien in 2009.

"I was blindsided," he tells Steve Kroft, before comparing it to being dumped by a girlfriend: "You know, you have a girl [who] says, 'I don't want to see you anymore.' Why? You know, she doesn't want to see you anymore, OK?"

Of course, as we all know, O'Brien's stint was short-lived, and Leno found himself back behind the desk.

Now, Leno is once again waiting on his departure, with Jimmy Fallon scheduled to take over the show next month.

"It's not my decision and I think I probably would have stayed if we didn't have an extremely qualified, young guy ready to jump in," he says. "[Jimmy Fallon] is probably more like a young Johnny [Carson] than almost anybody since. And he's really good."

Leno adds, "So you go with the new guy. Makes perfect sense to me."