'I wanted to kill myself': Joan Rivers opens up about a dark period in her life... but says her daughter Melissa saved her
She has had a successful career that has spanned more than six decades.
But a 26-year ban from the show where she first gained prominence could have been Joan Rivers's ultimate undoing.
The 80-year-old comedienne opened up about making her return to The Tonight Show for the first time in almost 30 years.
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Going back: Joan Rivers, 80, opened up to Inside Edition about making her return to The Tonight Show after being banned for 26 years
Storied show: Host Johnny Carson served as a mentor to Rivers before she took a hosting job at a rival network
Rivers sat down with Deborah Norville from Inside Edition to talk about her return to the late-night talk show.
She told the syndicated news magazine: 'I was on after 26 years of being banned. Twenty-six years off late night TV. To go back on that set and do a good set.'
The Fashion Police star was banned from the programme by her mentor Johnny Carson after taking a job to host a show on a rival network.
Saving grace: The Fashion Police star said that she considered suicide but thought it would be a terrible thing to do to her daughter Melissa
Here's Johnny! Carson hosted the show that helped Joan Rivers become famous from 1962 until 1992. He died in 2005
Rivers said that she called the host twice, only to be hung up on.
After the ban came a dark time in her life where she even thought of committing suicide.
The comedienne said: 'I couldn’t kill myself because I had my daughter, and that would be a terrible thing to do to her.'
Rivers has one daughter, Melissa, 46, who has appeared on several shows with her including Fashion Police and the reality show Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?
Carson eventually left the popular show in May of 1992, passing the torch to Jay Leno who continued to keep her off of the programme
Rivers said she is unsure of why Leno never had her on: 'I don’t know, and I dislike him because of that…I was never a Jay Leno fan, so ha-ha, I’m thrilled he’s off.'
The American television personality even joked about considering doing porn and who should appear in it with her.
'I think it should be two octogenarian women – me and Joan Collins!'
Deborah Norville's interview with Rivers is on Inside Edition on Friday March 28.
Welcome back: Rivers returned to The Tonight Show for the first time in 26 years on Thursday appearing with new host Jimmy Fallon and Noah actor Russell Crowe
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livedwell, Louisville KY, 2 hours ago
Not a Rivers fan but that Ray J/Kardashian sex tape spoof she did was hilarious.