Jenna Bush Hager & Hoda Kotb’s Top 10 ‘Today’ Overshares Of 2023

The Today Show has a certain safe, daytime charm to it. But the program enters new territory when it hits its fourth hour with Today with Hoda & Jenna. Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager ensure that their talk show is relatively safe for work, but the co-hosts are not afraid of opening up to their viewers about everything from motherhood to relationships and breakups — and not all of it is pretty.

That’s why we at Decider have decided to look back on Kotb and Bush Hager’s Year of Oversharing. Both daytime hosts have shared their own hilarious and powerful memories in 2023. But Bush Hager, who is a newer addition to Today, tends to be a bit more open with Kotb regarding moments from her past. This year alone, Bush Hager revealed she regularly goes commando, discussed the time she was arrested, and cried multiple times on the air. Kotb certainly had some revealing moments of her own, so much so Hager crowned her the show’s official “sex guru.”

But that’s why America loves them! Bush Hager and Kotb have undeniable chemistry, and their friendship truly shows when they host together. While some of the confessions they’ve made on air can be shocking — especially for the daytime crowd — Hager and Kotb offer a refreshing dose of authenticity that we’ve lost from much of television. They don’t necessarily get as heated as the ladies on The View, but they have their own fun.

Here are a few of the best times the co-hosts have overshared on Today With Hoda & Jenna.

1. Jenna Bush Hager Blames Her 2001 Arrest On A Waitress Who “Didn’t Like My Dad”

   Bush Hager recently opened up about her infamous 2001 arrest when she was busted for using a fake ID at a restaurant. She claimed her waitress called the cops because “she didn’t like my dad,” then-President of the United States, George W. Bush. Though she later admitted, “That was dumb. I mean, my dad was the president.” However, the Today host stated for the record that she was simply arrested, not detained. 

2. Jenna Bush Hager And Her Twin Sister Argue On-Air About A Boy They Both Liked In Seventh Grade

   Bush Hager’s twin sister, Barbara Bush, joined her and Kotb for a special sister edition of Today. But their conversation took a turn when Bush Hager brought up the time they “both liked the same person for a brief moment,” which appeared to stir up some old feelings. The sisters got into a bit of a squabble on air about a guy they both liked in the seventh grade, especially when Bush Hager outrightly told her sister, “I don’t think he liked you first.” Awkward!

3. Hoda Kotb Dishes On Hooking Up In Public, Making Even Jenna Bush Hager “Uncomfortable” On Air

   Go, Hoda! The longtime Today Show anchor confessed to Bush Hager that she once “had a full-on make out” with someone while shopping in a store. “In the middle of it I thought, I might get fired!” she told her co-host.  Bush Hager, on the other hand, figured you could “save” the PDA for home. As Kotb became more impassioned and started talking about “making out in front of a window,” Bush Hager admitted she was growing “uncomfortable” with the steamy conversation.

4. Jenna Bush Hager Tearfully Apologizes To Hoda Kotb Because She “Wasn’t There” For Her During Her Daughter’s Hospitalization

   The Today co-hosts shared an emotional moment after Kotb took some time off to be with her daughter when she was hospitalized earlier this year. When she returned, Bush Hager became emotional on the air and admitted, “When Hoda’s daughter wasn’t feeling well, I just wasn’t there for her the way I wanted to be. And I didn’t know how to be, and I felt terrible about it.” The confession shocked even Kotb, who said she “couldn’t believe” Bush Hager was talking about this on the air. But it was a very touching moment that appeared to help both co-hosts feel better.  

5. Jenna Bush Hager Revealed She Almost Got A Destiny’s Child Tattoo To Deal With A “Terrible” Breakup

   Bush Hager certainly has a wild side! She revealed that she once went through such a “terrible breakup” with someone that she almost got “Survivor” tattooed on her back! In her defense, that Destiny’s Child song was “popular” at the time. “We actually went to the tattoo parlor on 6th Street and thank you, Jesus, it was closed. Imagine me with ‘Survivor’ tattooed on my back?” she told Kotb. We really, really can’t.

6. Jenna Bush Hager Recalls The First Time She Asked Her Husband To Buy Her Tampons

   It’s a rite of passage many couples go through: asking your partner to buy you tampons. Bush Hager revealed that her husband of 15 years, Henry Hager, treated the favor as if he was completing a covert mission for her. “When Henry and I first got together and he had to buy me tampons for the first time, I might as well have asked him to buy me illegal drugs,” she recalled. “He’s like, ‘I got the goods, I got them!’” 

7. Jenna Bush Hager Recalls “Embarrassing” Diary Entry She Wrote About Feeling “Worried” She Couldn’t “Save” Her Virginity

   Amy Poehler stopped by Today to discuss her new Peacock series The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, and she and the co-hosts talked about how “sweet” it is to look through your old childhood diaries when cleaning up. Bush Hager wasn’t so sure, however. She recounted the “embarrassing” diary entries she used to write “hoping I’d be able to save my virginity.” She joked, “I was just worried in ninth grade that I wouldn’t have the wherewithal to hold it, you know?”

8. Hoda Kotb Gushes Over The “HOT” Affair She Had With A Police Officer After A “Terrible Breakup”

   The Today hosts were discussing how they got over the “terrible breakups” of their pasts when Kotb recounted a story that sounded like it was straight out of “a Colleen Hoover book,” according to Bush Hager. Kotb revealed that she struck up a relationship with a police officer she had met in a laundromat, but it eventually fizzled out because she realized she “didn’t need rescuing.” But the steamy story was enough to make Bush Hager exclaim, “That was HOT!” 

9. Jenna Bush Hager Reveals She’s Bringing “Zero” Pairs Of Underwear On A Work Trip With Hoda Kotb

   Bush Hager revealed just how much underwear she planned to pack for an upcoming trip she had with Kotb: none. The answer made Kotb laugh so hard she had to get up from the table, but when she returned, she admitted she “forgot” that Bush Hager prefers to go commando. This should come as no surprise, however, considering Bush Hager’s own daughter revealed on the show just weeks before that her mom “never wears underwear.” She even outed her by announcing, “She’s not wearing it right now! I saw her change.”

10. Jenna Bush Hager Reveals Her Ex Broke Up With Her After He Saw Her In A Bathing Suit

    Kotb and Bush Hager shared a candid moment discussing body image and age earlier this year. Both hosts had their own experiences to share, including Kotb, who revealed she was shamed for adopting her daughters while she was in her 50s. Bush Hager, on the other hand, revealed that she once had a boyfriend who cruelly broke up with her after seeing her in a bathing suit. She pointed out that they often receive comments about their bodies and appearance while working on Today, which often “takes you back” to those vulnerable moments.

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