Jay Leno is sharing the funny story of how he was first introduced to Drew Barrymore when she was just 3 years old.
The television host and comedian told Barrymore about the encounter, which she didn’t remember, while cruising around the lot where “The Drew Barrymore Show” is filmed.
In a video shared on Barrymore's and the daytime talk show’s Instagram accounts Sept. 12, Leno drives Barrymore and Ross Mathews, her co-host and producer (and Leno's former "Tonight Show" intern), around in a golf cart.
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“I met Drew when she was 3 years old,” he reveals as Barrymore and Mathews look surprised.
Leno continues, “I was dating her aunt. She had to babysit.”
He tells Barrymore, “I picked you up and I bounced you on my knee. It was just very funny.”
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Barrymore was shocked that he had never spoken about this childhood moment with her before.
“That is so crazy!” Mathews says.
The former child actor asks if Leno remembered anything about how she behaved.
“Well, you were a baby!” he replies. “I was the boyfriend of the babysitter.” He also recalls trying to make her laugh.
Mathews wondered if Leno recognized Barrymore a few years later when she appeared in her breakout role as Gertie in “E.T. the Extra- Terrestrial.”
Leno says he watched the movie and realized, “That’s the little girl.”
In the comments, one Instagram user replied, "How crazy is that! Wow! What a cool story! Small small world!"
Another said, "That’s so cute!!! Destiny!"
Years later, Barrymore and Leno reunited when she made an appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” in 1994. She returned for multiple sit-down interviews with the former late-night talk show host before his final episode in 2014.
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