Jenna Bush Hager Says Her “Childhood Wounds” Helped Her Build Her Personality: “If I Was The Cutest Little Girl…”

Jenna Bush Hager had a lot to say during Thursday’s (Oct. 26) broadcast of Today With Hoda & Jenna when the conversation turned to the topic of “childhood wounds.”

The Today co-hosts were discussing a recent article about why the anxiety of being picked last as a child in gym class or in any school settings tends to stick around into adulthood.

“I do think those kids who are in that group, those are the ones who wind up, later in life, having a lot of success,” Hoda Kotb said.

“This may surprise you because you’ve seen my athletic abilities, [my] prowess, but I was usually in that last group. It feels bad but this is not the sword that I die on,” Bush Hager said. “There’s other childhood wounds that, every once in a while, pick a little.”

Kotb began listing a number of instances where one might feel that social anxiety, such as being chosen in class when you don’t want to be, or learning you didn’t make the school sports team.

Bush Hager also suggested, “Being the chubby little kid that none of the boys wanted to ask for dances. Does that resonate? It resonates with me.”

But the Today host later added that moments like that eventually helped her build character.

“I don’t know if this is something I told myself, but I feel like the kids that weren’t as cute when they were little had to have great personalities,” she said. She later said that people used to mistake her and her twin sister, Barbara, for boys when they were children, which she claims her parents found very funny.

“My parents named me Benny and Barbara Beau because someone said your twin boys are adorable, and they actually came up with full names for us because they thought it was funny,” she said. She said embarrassing moments like that helped her build her sense of humor. “That, in turn, made me funny!”

 “If I was the cutest little girl, I might have been in pageants! Who knows?” she added.

Kotb could sense where she was going with this. “What would have happened to your personality?” she wondered with a laugh.

“It would have just been dwindled, quieted,” Bush Hager responded.

Today with Jenna and Hoda airs on weekdays at 10/9c on NBC.