Jenna Bush Hager called her dad, former President George W. Bush, crying to tell him Hoda Kotb would be leaving the “Today” show after 26 years with NBC.
The co-anchors were speaking about Kotb’s shocking announcement on Thursday’s episode of “Today With Hoda and Jenna” when they discussed a full circle moment with the former president.
“I don’t know if you’re embarrassed to say this or not, but I think that we should [talk about how] you called your dad. And I remember when you first started working together with me, you were afraid, so she called her dad,” Kotb recalled, referring to Bush Hager getting the co-hosting gig in 2019.
Bush Hager then recalled that, although he was “happy” for her landing the gig five years ago, he playfully reminded her that “Hoda is the star.”
“Then I called him last night. At first, he thought something really awful [happened], like I lost a loved one, because of how emotional I was,” she said. “And then, he said, ‘Oh, she’s leaving, because it’s time, and you’re going to be fine. It’s your turn. It’s OK.’”
Kotb, who was also crying, stood up and clapped for the 42-year-old, assuring her that the former politician was right.
“It’s your turn. It’s your turn! And whoever sits in this seat is going to have the easiest job in the world, because they’re sitting next to you. I mean, the only thing they have to do is not laugh so hard they pee their pants –– that’s it. They just have to hang on, that’s it. You are this bright light. You always have been, and it’s your turn,” Kotb, 60, praised.
The co-hosts had an emotional episode as they each broke down in tears while discussing Kotb’s shocking announcement that she’ll be leaving both the “Today” show and “Today With Hoda and Jenna” at the start of 2025.
“Saying goodbye to something this amazing is hard,” Kotb said while crying. “It weighed a lot on me. I went back and forth and back and forth, and then I thought to myself, ‘You know, I think this decade I think I’m going to have to start choosing me.’”
At the time, Bush Hager explained she had a “crazy” reaction after Kotb told her the “bittersweet” news just a “couple of days ago.”
“I said, ‘No! You can’t leave, because what we have here, with all of these people?” she said through tears. “It is magical and powerful and it feels like that here, and you’re who I come to when I’m feeling joyful, when I’m feeling unsure, you are who I come to, and you believed in me first.”
Kotb raved that their five years together have been “one in a million,” but she’s stepping aside to focus on herself and continuing to raise her two adopted daughters, Haley, 7, and Hope, 4.
The longtime broadcaster stunned fans when she announced that she would be leaving the “Today” show family after 26 years at NBC.
“I decided this is the right time for me to kind of move on. And so with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world. I’m not gonna be here past the first of the year. I’m gonna stay in the NBC family, but it’s kind of a big deal for me,” she said through tears while sitting next to Bush Hager, Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones, Craig Melvin, and her “Today” show co-anchor, Savannah Guthrie.
Prior to making her decision public, a source told Page Six that she wanted to step back from the show and enjoy living in the suburbs with her daughters.
“It’s heartbreaking for everyone, but Hoda wants to be able to walk her kids to school,” the insider said while assuring us that she will remain on the show in “some capacity.”
Kotb broke the news to viewers on the second hour of “Today” but penned a heartfelt letter to the staff earlier in the morning.
“As I write this, my heart is all over the map. I know I’m making the right decision, but it’s a painful one. And you all are the reason why,” she wrote in the letter obtained by Page Six.
Kotb went on to call Guthrie her “rock,” Bush Hager her “ride-or-die” and Roker her “longest friend at 30 Rock.”
Kotb began her time on NBC as a “Dateline NBC” correspondent before starting co-hosting with Kathie Lee Gifford on “Today With Hoda and Kathie Lee.” When Gifford retired in 2019, Bush Hager took her spot.
Meanwhile, she has been a co-anchor with Savannah Guthrie on “Today” ever since Matt Lauer was fired for alleged sexual misconduct in 2017.