Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager.
Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Empire State Realty TrustJenna Bush Hager has developed a close bond with him Hoda Kotb over the years so much that she gave her Today Cohost has a hilarious nickname.
While recounting the couple’s fun night in New Orleans on the Thursday, April 11 episode Today with Hoda & JennaBush Hager, 42, revealed that she sometimes refers to Kotb, 59, as “Dad.”
“I call her Dad because she’s early for everything, always early, and she just reminds me of my dad,” said Bush Hager, whose father is a former president George W Bush. “I’m like, ‘Dad says we can’t drink too much,'” Talia [Parkinson-Jones]’ to our boss. “Dad says put the vodka away.” But guess what? Dad wasn’t out the night we got here.”
George, 77, and his wife, Laura Bushwelcomed Jenna and her fraternal twin sister, Barbara Bushin 1981. Bush Hager joined Kotb as co-host of the fourth hour of Today in April 2019 Kathie Lee Gifford has resigned from the position.
When Bush Hager and Kotb arrived in New Orleans before their back-to-back fifth anniversary shows, they traded a “relaxed” evening for a fun night of jam music Beyonce Songs during the party bus ride from the airport to the city.
A video package aired during the episode also showed Bush Hager and Kotb doing a burlesque lesson, hosting a bachelor party and enjoying a local concert.
“You weren’t daddy that night,” Bush Hager told Kotb about her behavior the day before. “Hoda did it. We went into a bar and they shouted “Shots” and before I even knew it, Hoda was there punching something. And then we danced, we had the best [time].”
At the start of the episode, Kotb described the Louisiana town as “the place where people come to get spiritually healthy.” She explained, “You’re so buttoned up…busy at work week after week, your kids crying, everyone needs you.” You come to New Orleans and you know what you’re doing? You rip off the tops of your buttons and be yourself.”
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Bush Hager, for her part, added: “You go a little crazy to become sensible.”
The duo kicked off their fifth anniversary celebrations on Monday, April 8. “It feels like it was yesterday, and it feels so profound to sit next to someone who radiates joy no matter what you’re doing,” Bush Hager enthused. “You greet me with a smile every day and I know it’s not always easy. In fact, it’s probably not easy at all. But you’re here, sitting next to me.”
Kotb further noted that she is grateful for the bond they have developed over the past few years. “Every day it’s something different, something new, something we’re learning,” she told Bush Hager. “You led me down the path because of people you know in your life and people who are healers, so to speak, who helped me heal. And I think everything should be like that. It’s all supposed to be that way.”
Monday’s episode was full of special surprises for the couple, including receiving an original song as a gift from them Meghan Trainor and having the mayor of New York City Eric Adams Specify the date as Today with Hoda & Jenna Day in the city. To cap off their Monday festivities, they lit up the Empire State Building in the show’s signature colors of pink and purple.