United Kingdom, May 17 -- Conan O'Brien believes the internet saved his career.

The 62-year-old comic recalled how his stint hosting 'The Tonight Show' - which he took over in June 2009 but left just seven months later when Jay Leno wanted to return to the timeslot - "blew up" and left him fearing he was "in real trouble" - only to realise he had a younger generation of people praising his skills online.

Speaking to Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler on their 'MeSsy' podcast, he said: "I've had multiple times in my career where things kind of blew up or went sideways.

"I had no regrets about giving ['The Tonight Show'] a shot. And when, for all these complicated reasons, it blew up, I was deeply upset. I thought, 'I'm in real tr...