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- Jenna Bush Hager Reveals the Surprising Way Hoda Kotb Protected Her Before Her "Today" Show Exit</p>
<p>Rachel McRadyJuly 10, 2025 at 8:59 PM</p>
<p>Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty</p>
<p>Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on the Today show Jan. 10, 2025</p>
<p>Jenna Bush Hager opened up about Hoda Kotb's exit from the Today show in a new podcast interview, saying she didn't have "an inkling" that her co-host was leaving</p>
<p>The TV host shared that Kotb urged her not to sign her own contract knowing she was leaving, and that Bush Hager would deserve more while running the show solo</p>
<p>Bush Hager is currently "dating," having worked with 50 different celebrity co-hosts in the past seven months</p>
<p>Though Hoda Kotb's exit from the Today show caught her co-hosts off guard, Jenna Bush Hager recently revealed that her former co-host did her best to protect her without directly sharing why.</p>
<p>"In the same way that I didn't envision myself working at the Today show, I never envisioned Hoda leaving," Bush Hager, 43, shared on the How She Does It podcast. "And in fact, she kept saying, 'Don't sign your contract.' "</p>
<p>Though Bush Hager interpreted this message one way, she later learned what Kotb was trying to do.</p>
<p>"I thought she was saying that so we could link up our contracts and be there until the same time," Bush Hager explained. "But what she was doing was protecting me, because she knew I was gonna be doing the show on my own."</p>
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<p>Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty</p>
<p>Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on the Today show Dec. 9, 2024</p>
<p>And, she added, that scenario "is a different story than when you're sitting next to a partner you've had for six years."</p>
<p>Bush Hager said the news came as a shock when Kotb, 60, announced her plans to exit Today in September 2024.</p>
<p>"I didn't ever have one inkling of a thought that she was about to say she was leaving," she said of her former co-host. "I know she loved her work and loves her work, so leaving it wasn't something I could wrap my mind around until I sat down with her and heard her reasoning."</p>
<p>Kotb exited Today with Hoda & Jenna along with the rest of the Today show in January to spend more time with her loved ones and focus on her new wellness venture, Joy 101. Her exit left Bush Hager at the helm of the ship of her new show Today with Jenna & Friends.</p>
<p>"It was not something I chose," Bush Hager admitted of the shift. "It was a shock and it was a disappointment at the time."</p>
<p>Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty</p>
<p>Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on the Today show Jan. 7, 2025</p>
<p>The fourth hour of the morning show has had 50 different celebrity guests over the course of the last seven months, all co-hosting alongside Bush Hager, who has compared the process to "dating."</p>
<p>"We will eventually have a permanent host, I think, but we don't know," she admitted. "And I'm Type A in a weird way. I'm not a perfectionist at all. But I also like planning. I like plans. I like to sort of know how things are gonna go."</p>
<p>"For my personality, this has been a challenge, and it's a great way just to live in the present," Bush Hager continued. "Like, 'We do not have a plan, and that does not scare me.' "</p>
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<p>Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty</p>
<p>Jenna Bush Hager on Today with Jenna & Friends Jan. 15, 2025</p>
<p>In terms of what she's looking for in a long-term on-air partner, the former first daughter admitted that she doesn't have a particular type in mind.</p>
<p>"I'm not looking for anything, you know? I'm just living in the moment with these people, many of whom I'm meeting for the first time," she explained. "Which is crazy. I mean, and it is. It is a lot."</p>
<p>"It's a lot for our producers. It's a lot for me," Bush Hager added. "It's a lot easier to sit next to somebody you know and love. And do a show with them and know they have your back."</p>
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