Jenna Bush Hager recently shared a moment of emotional honesty with co-host Hoda Kotb, admitting that she “just wasn’t there for [Hoda]” the way she wanted to be when Hoda’s daughter Hope, 3, was hospitalized in February.
The TODAY with Hoda and Jenna host discussed a moment when she was “brutally honest” with her co-host and friend Hoda, after feeling like she didn’t know how to be supportive at such a difficult time.
Hoda and Jenna talk about ‘brutal honesty’ and Jenna opens up about feeling guilty for not being there for Hoda how she wanted during Hope’s health struggles. pic.twitter.com/h2RRyMOqKa
— TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) May 10, 2023
Jenna Confesses: ‘I Feel Like I Haven’t Been There For You’
The moment of brutal honesty came after Hoda’s young daughter Hope was recently hospitalized and put into the ICU, leading Hoda to take several weeks’ leave from. TODAY during the family emergency.
Jenna confessed that she told Hoda after the incident that “I feel like I haven’t been there for you,” after confronting the painful realization that “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.”
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Hoda shared her reaction to the statement: "It was, first of all, one of the most beautiful statements," she said, "and it touched me deeply and it meant everything to me that you said that. You've had so many beautiful statements, and it touched me deeply. And it meant everything to me that you said that. And I know you inside and out, you know life is like that."
Both hosts became teary at the memory, leading Jenna to joke, "What is happening? We went from 'brutally honest' to weeping."
Hoda Shared Emotional Moment On TODAY After Daughter's Hospital Stay
Hoda, who is also mother to daughter Haley Joy, 6, took a few weeks break from TODAY to be with Hope while she was in the hospital this past February.
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She has not disclosed the specific medical reason that led to Hope's stay in the ICU, but did tell TODAY co-host Savannah Guthrie that health complications had landed her young daughter in the hospital. "My youngest, Hope, was in the ICU for and then in the hospital for a little over a week," shared the Making Space host. "I’m so grateful she’s home, she is back home. I was waiting for that day to come, and we are watching her closely."
The 58-year-old mother-of-two ruminated on the feelings a parent can have when their child is very sick. "You know what I realized too, Savannah? It’s like, when your child is ill, the amount of gratitude you can have for people who helped you out. So I’m grateful for the doctors at Weill Cornell who were amazing and the nurses. And I’m grateful for my family and I’m grateful [for] friends like you who were there every single day. So I want to say thank you for that. I love you."
NEW: Hoda Kotb returns to TODAY after handling her daughter’s health matter. “I’m so grateful she’s home,” Hoda said. pic.twitter.com/z5f8herdyB
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 6, 2023
Hoda adopted Hope and Haley Joy with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman after realizing that she wanted children late in life: "I was like, 'Oh my God, I do want to have children, right now. Here, in my current state.'"
The moment of "brutal honesty" between Hoda and Jenna came soon after the pair celebrated 4 years hosting TODAY with Hoda and Jenna together, a milestone marked with the observation, "You know what it is? I think when there is something that's real, you are not pretending...it's easy. You have to go through life and do things you have to do, but this is not that. This is the best."
