Jay Leno Confesses To Oprah: 'It Broke My Heart' When NBC Asked Me To Leave 'The Tonight Show'
Jay Leno confesses he was heartbroken when NBC said they were giving “The Tonight Show” to Conan O’Brien. Plus: “I never expected this to happen.”
The former and soon to be host of The Tonight Show, Jay Leno, went on The Oprah Show today to discuss the NBC debacle that took him off the late night show he hosted for 15 years, only to give it back to him the other week. Jay — who seemed so business like and matter of fact — says that when NBC went to him in 2004 and said they would replace him with Conan O’Brien in five years, “It broke my heart. I was really devastated. I always assumed that as long as you keep your show number one, you will be number one.” Jay appealed to the millions of viewers who turned against him when Conan, who came on to host The Tonight Show, was then asked to push the show back an hour when his ratings were poor. “I never expected this to happen,” Jay said of NBC offering him The Tonight Show back. Read more