Jenna Bush Hager Reveals Why Hoda Kotb Was A Great Leader
Jenna Bush Hager has been moving on with her career on The Today Show since Hoda Kotb retired. It has been an interesting ride for Jenna, who changed her segment to Jenna & Friends. She welcomes a rotating group of guest hosts rather than one permanent one. While she is on her own now, Jenna said that Hoda taught her one important lesson, and it is what made her former co-host a great leader.
Here is what Jenna said that Hoda taught her and why it is such an important lesson.
Jenna Bush Hager On Hoda Kotb’s Most Important Lesson
Jenna Bush Hager has had several co-hosts on Jenna & Friends since Hoda Kotb retired from The Today Show. While Jenna welcomed everyone from comedians and talk show hosts to actors and her own husband to the show, she said she lived by the most important lesson Hoda taught her.
“I mean, I think the most important lesson that she taught me was about positivity,” Jenna said (via Us Weekly). “She was such a good leader because she was so joyful all the time, and that really is her natural state.”
Jenna only worked with Hoda for five years before the veteran host retired from The Today Show. She became Hoda’s fourth-hour co-host after Kathy Lee Gifford retired and left the program. Known as Today With Hoda & Jenna, the two worked together until January 2025, when Hoda left.
According to Hoda, she had just turned 60 and felt it was a “monumental moment for me” because she wanted to know what that decade would look like for her. “I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and to try something new.”
Jenna didn’t immediately get a new co-host, though. The Today Show wants to try out a variety of hosts before making that ultimate decision.
Jenna Bush Hager Says She Is Using What Hoda Kotb Taught Her
As Jenna Bush Hager looks for a replacement for Hoda Kotb, she said that she is using what Hoda taught her to be an even better host. She said that she was sad when Hoda left, but the entire team at Today has her back.
“I would say that’s what she taught me – that joy is contagious, and it’s important to thank people and to be a leader that acknowledges everybody’s hard work,” Jenna said. The Jenna & Friends host said that was her most important lesson.
Since Hoda left, Jenna has worked with a variety of co-hosts. She worked with actresses like Tarakji P. Henson and Scarlett Johansson, singers like Kelsea Ballerinei and Ciara, and comedian Keke Palmer. “Every day it changes,” Jenna said. “It also has been a really good lesson in living in the present. It’s, like, I actually have no idea what this show is going to look like.”
What are your thoughts on Jenna Bush Hager on The Today Show since Hoda Kotb left? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.l
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