Hoda Kotb Details How Her Daughter Snubbed Her for Jenna Bush Hager
After years of hosting Today together, Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager are like family—and they even have close relationships with each other's children, as one hilarious anecdote revealed.
On the Oct. 21 episode of Today, the co-hosts told a story about something super sweet Kotb's 7-year-old daughter Haley recently did for Hager, unintentionally snubbing her mom in the process.
Hager began the tale, explaining how she found a surprise Christmas gift in her dressing room from the little girl: a penguin ornament with the name "Jenna" printed on it.
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"When I walked into my dressing room and it was still kind of dark out, there was a little Christmas present wrapped for me. And I thought, is it Christmas almost? No, Halloween hasn't happened, Thanksgiving is yet to be," Hager said.
"I'm gonna tell you about this present," Kotb interjected. "We were in Value Drugs, and they have all of the ornaments with the names on them. Haley found one that spelled her name properly, so she was like 'They have my name!'"
Unfortunately, the store didn't have an ornament with Haley's sister Hope's name, but they did have one that said "little sister."
"And she's like 'Oh look, there's one for Jenna. Oh, world's best mom!'" Kotb continued, adding that she told Haley she could buy three ornaments.
"So we check out, and I'm assuming it's world's best mom and great little sister. I unpack the Value Drugs bag, and what comes out? Haley, world's best little sister, and Jenna! Jenna got one!"
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"Look what I got!" Hager said, holding up the penguin ornament for the camera.
"She left world's best mom on the rack so she could buy a Jenna!" Kotb said.
"And, by the way, she asked me where the Christmas wrapping was, she climbed up and got it herself, she got her scissors, she taped that package, and she did it for you," the mother-of-two told Hager.
"I don't think she realizes what this means to me because as a little kid, and I know you'll understand this, the name Jenna was not popular—I mean, Hoda, same-same," Hager replied, going on to detail how frustrating it was for her as a child when she couldn't find any items with her name on them.
"And Haley knew!" Hager marveled.
"She knew," Kotb agreed.
Next: 'Today' Show Announces 'Iconic' Guest Host and Fans Say He's 'The Only Replacement' for Hoda Kotb