Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotb’s friendship has been full of equally beautiful and emotional moments! The former first daughter explained that she broke down in tears prior to interviewing Cher during her first week of cohosting Today With Hoda & Jenna.
“I interviewed her on, it was the first week of our show. Hoda and I had done our show for a week. It was Sunday. It was at her Broadway show and I was early, so I went and got a Starbucks,” Jenna, 42, said during an episode of the talk show on Tuesday, November 19.
“And when I was in the Starbucks, Hoda FaceTimed me. And she said, ‘I want you to meet baby Hope.’ And I got to meet her baby. And then I had to go back and interview Cher. I was bawling crying. I also was like, ‘What does this mean for our show?,” the Sisters First author revealed.
Hoda, 60, adopted her youngest daughter, Hope Catherine, in 2019. She is also a mom to daughter Haley Joy, whom she adopted in 2017. The mom of two began cohosting Today With Hoda & Jenna with Jenna in April 2019 after Kathie Lee Gifford left the show.
Jenna previously spoke out about how she was pregnant with her son, Hal, when she first made her debut as an official Today cohost.
“I remember when I took this job, I was pregnant with Hal. And I was really worried about it,” Jenna, who also shares daughters Mila and Poppy, with husband Henry Hager, told People in May. “And I went to Hoda’s dressing room because I knew she wanted to have another baby and I knew she was in the process and I was really hoping that she would get the call any moment.”
“And I also knew my sister wanted to be a mom so I felt, like, guilt, around the fact that I could have three babies. And I went to Hoda and I cried. At first she thought, ‘Wait, you’re not taking the job?’” Jenna said about her twin sister, Barbara Bush.
Hoda confessed that she thought Jenna “was quitting” at the time.
“She went, ‘So are you not going to take the job?’ And I was like, ‘No, no not that. But I just wanted to tell you.’ And she looked at me and I said, ‘You know, my mom says that everybody gets your baby right on time but I feel … I can’t help but feel so much worry around this,’” Jenna remembered.
“And then, we started the show, and one week later. We started the show on a Monday, Sunday. She FaceTimed me, I was in Times Square interviewing Cher and she said, ‘I want you to meet Hope.’ And she had her baby before I had mine!” she added. “And it was this beautiful thing about blessings really do come when … and my mom’s right, you know. We get our blessings when it’s time. So if you’re so caught up in the, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m 30 and I’m not even loving it.’ It’s like, work towards that love.”
