Pilot Chesley Sullenberger jokes that his heroic handling of a disabled jetliner brought him "rock star sex" in an interview for "NBC's People of the Year" TV special.

Sullenberger, who safely ditched a US Airways plane in New York's Hudson River after geese hit the engines, is among those interviewed by Matt Lauer for the Thanksgiving Day special.

Lauer asked Sullenberger and his wife, Laurie, whether his sudden celebrity helped or hurt their relationship.

"He doesn't know I'm gonna say this, but I had joked the other day that ... the hero sex really helps a 20-year-old marriage," Laurie Sullenberger said with a laugh, according to an NBC transcript.

"Rock star sex," Chesley Sullenberger chimed in.

Lauer also interviews Taylor Swift, Nadya Suleman, Susan Boyle and Kobe Bryant for the hour-long special airing 9 p.m. EST Thursday on NBC.

In Lauer's interview with Suleman, the California mother of octuplets denies receiving any public funding and also says that, contrary to reports, she isn't going to do a reality show with Jon Gosselin of "Jon & Kate Plus 8."

"I love that this happened, because this is a perfect example of what kind of erroneous beliefs are out there," Suleman said, saying the answer to whether it would happen "was a billion percent no."

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NBC is owned by General Electric Co.