Jay Leno has come out of a tragedy with a transformation.
The comedian, who sustained burns to his face, arms and hands in a gasoline fire back in November, made a post-hospitalization appearance on the March 1 episode of "The Kelly Clarkson Show," where he showed off how well his face has healed.
"This is a brand new face," Leno declared to host Kelly Clarkson. "It is. It's unbelievable."
Reflecting on the scary incident, which occurred as Leno was working on one of his collectible cars, the comedian told the story with some fictitious details thrown in.
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"I was working on a car and I got a face full of gasoline and it caught fire," he explained, before joking, "I had been eating a Flamin' Hot Dorito and when I bit into it, it set my face on fire."
In a more serious fashion, Leno noted the "pretty bad" accident gave him third degree burns. Now with healed skin, Jay quipped of the incredible transformation, while pointing at his chin, "You'd think there'd be a zipper here or something but no."
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The comedian added, "Only for the second time in my career am I the new face of comedy. I got it once in the '80s and now I get it again."
As for what really went down at the time of his accident? Well, there were no Doritos involved.
"It was a 1907 White Steam Car," Leno told Hoda Kotb in a Dec. 14 interview for TODAY. "The fuel line was clogged, so I was underneath it. It sounded clogged and I said, 'Blow some air through the line,' and so he did."
"And suddenly, boom, I got a face full of gas," Leno continued. "And then the pilot light jumped and my face caught on fire."
Thankfully, Leno's good friend Dave Killackey was there to take quick life-saving action.
"I said to my friend, I said, 'Dave, I'm on fire,'" Leno recalled. "And Dave's like, 'All right.' I said, 'No, Dave, I'm on fire.' And then, 'Oh, my god.' Dave, my friend, pulled me out and jumped on top of me and kind of smothered the fire."
Following the traumatic occurrence, Leno — who drove himself home after the incident — was later admitted to Grossman Burn Center in Los Angeles. There, he spent 10 days under their care before being released into the clinic's outpatient facility.
During his appearance on the show, Dr. Peter Grossman and nurses Karin, Alyssa and Amy dished with Clarkson on Leno's remarkable recovery, and rated him as a patient.
The nurses presented Leno with a hilarious "FRAGILE" sweatshirt, and he returned the favor by surprising them with a trip to the Bahamas.
During his stay at the hospital, Leno was visited at the hospital by Tim Allen. At the time, Allen shared that Leno's good spirits were in tact while on the mend.
"He's feeling better," Allen said in footage obtained by TMZ. "We did some jokes, which is what we do. We commiserated."
