'60 Minutes': Jay Leno says he was 'blind-sided' when NBC gave 'The Tonight Show' to Conan O'Brien

In his first in-depth interview about his departure from late night, comedian reveals how he felt about losing his job twice

Jay Leno tells Steve Kroft he never saw it coming. The departing "Tonight Show" host says NBC's now-epic mistake of replacing him in 2009 with Conan O'Brien was a shocker that made him feel like a girlfriend had broken up with him.

It's the first time the "Tonight Show" host has spoken in-depth about the drawn-out process that saw him fired from his two-decade, late-night perch twice, once for the failed experiment with Conan O'Brien, and now for Jimmy Fallon, who will replace him next month. His interview with Kroft will be broadcast on "60 Minutes" Sunday, Jan. 26 (7 p.m.), on CBS.

 "I was blindsided. ... (NBC executives said), 'You're out,' and I went 'OK.' "

He says he never asked NBC why, but the news hurt him like a romantic breakup. "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?"

He also says he was devastated to be portrayed as the bad guy when NBC took the popular O'Brien off the "Tonight Show" when its ratings tanked. "I didn't quite understand that, but I never chose to answer any of those things or make fun of any other people involved," he tells Kroft. "It's not my way."

Fallon will take over the "Tonight Show" on Feb. 17. Leno praised him. "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. (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 an excerpt.

Asked if he would have preferred to stay, Leno says, "Well, it's always nice to keep working. Sure it is. ... But am I extremely grateful? Yeah."

Kroft also interviews his wife, Mavis, and he accompanies the late night legend to his home town of Andover, Mass., where he got his comedy start in a talent contest surrounding the promotion of McDonald's' Fillet-o-Fish sandwich. 

The interview with Kroft bookends Leno's career on the "Tonight Show": Leno gave Kroft an interview for "60 Minutes" when he took over the program from Johnny Carson in 1992.