While viewers love Jenna Bush Hager for her candid remarks on Today, her family sometimes isn’t keen about what stories she shares on air.
“My husband, [Henry Hager], is always like, ‘What? Why did you say you think it’s great when other girls have crushes on me? People are coming out of the woodworks,’” Bush Hager, 42, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her partnership with Kleenex. “I’m like, ‘I didn’t know that that headline would be a thing. I just meant I think you’re cute, and so, [if] other people do too, [that’s] great.’”
The Today With Hoda & Jenna cohost recalled the time she went viral for reading a letter her eldest daughter, Mila, 11, sent her from sleepaway camp.
“[It] was like, ‘Dear mom, when is daddy gonna come get me?’ And I read it on air because it just was so typical of any of us that have ever gone to camp and missed our families,” she shared. “And first of all, of course, the mail was delayed. So, by the time I read it, she was perfectly happy and no longer homesick at camp. But I got calls from the camp, like, ‘Oh my gosh, everything’s OK,’ you know, overreaction.”
Though Bush Hager thought it was a sweet story to share, Mila was “humiliated” after the contents of her letter were made public. “I think that was a really good lesson because it was innocuous,” Bush Hager told Us. “It was just about being homesick, but it bothered her.”
She continued: “I think as my kids get older — and I know Hoda [Kotb] and I talk about this constantly — we try to navigate, like, what’s their story to tell and if we’re ever stepping over something that would make them feel bad later because things exist forever now, which is not in the case of when we were growing up.”
While Bush Hager appreciates that her husband “lets me be me” on the morning show, she also respects “that sort of tug-and-pull where he’s like, ‘Hold on, honey. Don’t share much.’” (Along with Mila, the couple, who wed in 2008, share daughter Poppy, 9, and son Hal, 5.)
Earlier this year, Bush Hager admitted on Today that she wished she had more dating experience before settling down with Hager, 46. The comment was one the NBC personality told Us “annoyed” her husband.
“That irritated him because I didn’t mean I should have dated more. It was more of what I want my girls to know. I want my girls to know that they are the choosers,” she explained. “I just mean in college, I felt sort of shy to date people. I had [the] Secret Service following me every day, which is something I’ve sort of dug into. And so, I felt I kept with the same boyfriend because I felt like that was sort of safer and I cared what people thought about me.”
Describing her past self as a “serial monogamist,” she continued: “I dated five guys for years and years, and we still joke about it. … I think during that time, I wish I had the confidence to think, like, ‘Oh, this relationship isn’t working. Let’s go see who else is out there.’ And Henry’s like, ‘You dated plenty. Why are you throwing that out?’ But I just want girls to know that they are the choosers, that they don’t need to stay with somebody if they’re not making them feel great. So, that’s what I meant. But Henry was like, ‘What do you mean you should have dated other people?’ Not after I met him. After I met him, I was good.”
While Bush Hager is scaling back on publicly telling stories about her family, she is gearing up for back-to-school season through her “natural partnership” with Kleenex. “It’s super incredible,” she told Us.
As a former teacher herself, Bush Hager knows Kleenex are a “staple” in any classroom. “Teachers usually pay out of their own pockets for the supplies that their kids need, on top of working long hours devoting themselves to their students,” she added. “And so, in honor of Kleenex’s 100th year — which is remarkable — they’re partnering with an incredible organization, DonorsChoose, to make sure that teachers are getting what they need.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
