Jenna Bush Hager Responds to Hoda Kotb’s TODAY Show Announcement

After Hoda Kotb emotionally announced that she’s leaving TODAY next year, Jenna Bush Hager tearfully recalled how Hoda was by her side when Jenna became her co-host and part of the TODAY family.

“You’re the one I come to, and you believed in me first,” Jenna Hoda told TODAY’s fourth hour on Sept. 26. “We have a lot of bosses and I love them, but this lady on Oct. 28, 2013 — I looked it up — she said, ‘Hey, do you want to sit next to me? There’s room.'”

Hoda and Jenna celebrated their five-year anniversary as co-hosts of The Fourth Hour in April.

“Looking at you and seeing the magic was one of the easiest things I’ve ever seen in my life,” Hoda told Jenna.

Hoda remembers Jenna calling her father, former President George W. Bush, to tell her she was nervous at first.

“You called your dad and I remember you were scared when you first started working with me,” Hoda said.

“I called my dad when I started and he said, ‘I’m so happy for you. And Hoda is the star. You’re okay with that, right? You’re okay with sharing the spotlight with the star, right?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, of course.'”

Jenna called her dad again after hearing from Hoda that she had decided to leave TODAY and remain part of the NBC family.

“And then he said, ‘Oh, she’s leaving because it’s time, and you’re going to be okay,'” Jenna said. “It’s your turn. It’s okay.”

“Your turn,” Hoda said. “Whoever’s sitting in this chair is going to have the easiest job in the world, because they’re sitting right next to you. All they have to do is not laugh so hard they pee their pants. That’s it, they just have to keep going. You’re this bright light, you always have been, and now it’s your turn. Your daddy is so wise.”

“If I’m happy, it’s because I’m in your light,” Jenna replied.

Jenna admitted she had a hard time when Hoda told her the news.

“Hoda told me a couple days ago, and when she told me, my first reaction, from my gut, was almost crazy,” Jenna said. “I said, ‘No, you can’t leave because what we have here with all these people.’ What I get to sit next to you and feel is this, this is what’s between us, and it’s magical and powerful, and it feels like that here too.”

Jenna called Thursday a “bittersweet, beautiful day” because Hoda is “brave” and “doing what’s best for her daughters.”

Hoda shared how celebrating her 60th birthday in August put her in a reflective mood that prompted her to decide to make a change.

“I think in 10 years when I look back on my 60s, it will be filled with new adventures, hopefully using my entrepreneurial skills and also seeing my kids taking baby steps. And that’s it.”

However, she knew she would have to make a difficult decision as Jenna’s co-host.

“Certain relationships are one in a million, and this is it,” she told Jenna. “And that’s why it’s hard, because letting go of something that’s not working, something that’s so tired, something that you don’t want, is easy. But letting go of something that’s amazing is hard.

“It weighed heavily on me. I was going back and forth and back and forth, and then I thought to myself, I think I need to start this decade choosing.”

As Jenna said, there are still some fun moments to be had before Hoda moves on to the next phase of her life and career.

“You see those tears. You see those faces of sadness, it’s because you are so loved and you have made each and every one of us feel adored, and we just can’t imagine life without you.

“But the good news is, we don’t have to imagine, because you’re here for three more months! I promise you, the next three months won’t be all cry-fests. We’re going to have fun. We’re going to celebrate you.”