“‘She Saved Me That Day’ – Jenna Gets Honest About Hoda’s Loyalty” A POWERFUL behind-the-scenes moment on Today Show as Jenna reveals the day Hoda Kotb quietly PROTECTED her when she needed it most.

Jenna Bush Hager was shocked when Today Show co-anchor Hoda Kotb decided to leave the show, but is grateful she left her with some advice that protected her from the aftermath

Hoda protected Jenna with some parting advice
Jenna Bush Hager revealed what her friend and former co-anchor, Hoda Kotb, did to protect her before her exit from the Today Show in an appearance on the How She Does It podcast with Karen Finnerman.

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Hoda left the show in January 2025 to spend more time with her two young daughters, taking the team by surprise, especially Jenna. The two news personalities co-hosted the show for five years, and although Jenna was taken aback by Hoda’s departure, she is grateful her friend left her with some parting advice.

“In the same way that I didn’t envision myself working at the Today show, I never envisioned Hoda leaving,” Jenna said.

Hota took over the co-anchor role after Matt Lauer was booted in 2017. The 60-year-old spent 26 years of her career with NBC. Jenna joined Hoda as co-host in 2019 after a decade with the network.

The show has since rebranded as ‘Jenna and Friends'(Image: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)

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“I didn’t ever have one inkling of a thought that she was about to say she was leaving. 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,” Jenna said. Hoda left to spend more time with her daughters, seven-year-old Hope and four-year-old Haley.

Despite being shocked by her co-host’s decision, the 43-year-old is grateful that Hoda made an effort to protect her on her way out. She recalls Hoda telling her, “Don’t sign your contract,” which Jenna thought she meant so that their contracts would line up, but “what she was doing was protecting me, because she knew I was gonna be doing the show on my own.”

If she had signed her contract, she would not have been able to negotiate after Hoda’s departure, leaving her with more responsibilities as the sole host of the show.

Since Hoda’s departure, Jenna has had over 50 different celebrity guest co-hosts, likening the revolving door of guests to “dating.” The show has been rebranded as ‘Jenna & Friends’ while the search for Hoda’s replacement continues. Some fan favorites include Today anchor Savannah Guthrie, Maria Shriver, Keke Palmer, and Olivia Munn.

“We will eventually have a permanent host, I think, but we don’t know,” she said. “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.”