Although they definitely refer to Today show, Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotb facing some struggles to be able to do so.
“If you don’t fit in, they want you to wear something a certain way, cut your hair a certain way, talk a certain way,” said Kotb, 60, as he discussed how people shouldn’t change to fit certain roles in the Monday, December 2 episode of Today with Hoda and Jenna. Addressing Bush Hager, 43, she added: “I know you, too, when you come to the network, it’s like, ‘Welcome, but you have to change.’
Bush Hager went on to reveal that NBC didn’t want her to use a certain catchphrase on air when she joined Today as a correspondent in 2009. “(They were like), ‘Hey, everybody, it’s not for the whole country.’ And I was like, ‘Well, it’s me,'” the Texas native said. “It’s so weird and it happens in life too. If you have friends and then, all of a sudden, you’re not acting like you are and you’re like, ‘Wait,’ something in your gut is wrong.”
Kotb noted that it took the two of them “a long time” to learn to be themselves on the show, telling his host, “It took me longer than I think it took you.” (Kotb joined NBC as a Date correspondent in 1998 before she did Today hosting debut in 2007)
The news of Hoda Kotb’s departure from the Today show is bittersweet for her co-hosts. “I just turned 60 and it was such a monumental moment for me when I turned 60 because I started thinking about that decade, like what does that decade mean? What does it contain? What will there be for me?” Kotb, (…)
Reflecting on her “all” story, Bush Hager continued, “When they said, ‘You can’t say all,’ in my gut, I was like, ‘But why? Should we pretend to be newsy? Because whenever you pretend to be news, I feel like I’m acting. And we all know from (our Titanic Halloween skit), I’m not a great actor. When you try to pretend to be someone else, you feel crazy.”
Kotb agreed, saying that pretending to be someone you’re not can feel like “losing who you are.”
Over the years, Bush Hager has let his personality shine through on the NBC morning show, especially after taking over Kotb’s fourth-hour role Today co-host in 2019 She also showed her love for her home state by taking the show to Austin for two special Texas Takeover episodes in October.
Jenna Bush.
Nathan Congleton/NBC“Austin was my home from middle school through college. I couldn’t leave. I should have gone to (the University of Texas at Austin),” Bush Hager said on the Oct. 24 episode Hoda and Jenna. “I’ve lived outside of Texas longer than I’ve lived in it, but it’s still in every bone in my body. I love him so much.”
Nathan Congleton/NBC Hoda Kotb will always remember what Jenna Bush Hager said to her after she announced her departure from Today. “Here’s how she starts our staff meeting: ‘One time Hoda left a party with my bag,'” Kotb, 60, recalled on the Wednesday, Oct. 9, episode of Today. “I was like, ‘What’s Jenna doing?’ (…)
Kotb is set to i’m leaving Today in January 2025after which Bush Hager will continue to host the fourth hour as Today with Jenna and friends with rotating guest hosts until a permanent replacement is chosen. Craig Melvin will take over Kotb’s role as Savannah Guthrienews anchor.
“Whoever sits in this seat is going to have the easiest job in the world because he’s sitting next to you,” Kotb told his co-host after announcing his departure on September 26 episode on Today. “The only thing they have to do is not laugh so hard they pee their pants.” That’s it.
They just have to hold on.”
