Jay Leno on Losing Tonight Show to Conan: I Was "Blindsided"

As he prepares to step down once again, Jay Leno is finally speaking out about when he first lost The Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien in 2009.

"I was blindsided. ... [NBC executives said], 'You're out,' and I went 'okay,'" Leno told Steve Kroft in an interview that will air on Sunday's 60 Minutes.

When NBC reinstated Leno after O'Brien failed in the ratings, the long-time host said he was pained to be portrayed as the villain.  "I didn't quite understand that, but I never chose to answer any of those things or make fun of any other people involved," Leno said.  "It's not my way."

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But Leno has nothing but goodwill towards his new replacement Jimmy Fallon, who is taking over Feb. 17. "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.  Sure, I probably would have stayed a little longer ... but [Jimmy Fallon] is probably more like a young Johnny [Carson] than almost anybody since. And he's really good. So you go with the new guy. Makes perfect sense to me."  

Watch a preview of Leno's interview below.

60 Minutes airs Sundays at 7/6c on CBS. 

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