It’s been three months since Hoda Kotb’s Today exit, but she is still on her old morning show schedule.
“How often do you talk to [Hoda]?” guest host Andy Cohen asked Jenna Bush Hager on the Tuesday, April 22, episode of Today With Jenna & Friends. Bush Hager, 43, noted she and Kotb, 60, talk “all the time” but “not enough,” as they used to chat every day while working together on the NBC morning series.
However, Bush Hager revealed that Kotb sometimes sends her sweet messages at the crack of dawn. “This is the thing about Hoda, she still wakes up at 4:30 in the morning, which is insane,” Bush Hager quipped. “So, early in the morning, she likes to send voice notes.”
Bush Hager didn’t share what Kotb sends in her voice notes but proceeded to ask Cohen, 56, how often he chats with their mutual pal. “Not often, but there’s no beef,” he joked. “Everything’s good.”
Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager’s Best BFF Moments Over the Years
Earlier in the conversation, Bush Hager recalled how Cohen guest hosted the fourth hour of Today with Kotb in the past. “When you would come, I was like, ‘Am I on a triple date?’” she said, teasing that she felt like a third wheel with Kotb and Cohen.
“But it was OK, because I love to watch people love Hoda,” Bush Hager added. “She’s my bestie.”
While Bush Hager revealed that Kotb’s morning schedule still includes waking up early, Kotb previously celebrated not having to set her alarm following her exit from the morning show. “No alarm … whaaaaaaaattttt???” she wrote via Instagram on January 12.
Kotb and Bush Hager formed a close friendship over the six years they cohosted Today With Hoda & Jenna together. Kotb paid tribute to her former onscreen partner in a heartfelt video message during her final episode on January 10, stating, “I can hardly even say her name without laughing out loud, but that is not the part I fell in love with. I fell in love with her tears, her vulnerable, lovable self.”
Bush Hager honored Kotb in a video package of her own during the episode. “Thank you, Hoda, for everything you have taught me, everything you’ve given me, all the hugs, all the heart, all the laughs, all the love,” she said in the clip. “I will miss you, my friend, but I love you and I’m so proud. Love always and forever, Jenna.”
Though Kotb has not appeared in front of the Today show cameras since her exit, she paid a behind-the-scenes visit to Bush Hager before an episode of Jenna & Friends last month. “What is happening?” Bush Hager exclaimed in an Instagram clip of the reunion before embracing Kotb for a hug. “I had to come in for a second,” Kotb replied.
Kotb also shared a hug with Bush Hager’s cohost at the time, Dwyane Wade, before praising his hosting abilities. “You’re crushing it. You’re so good it’s sick,” she told the former NBA player.
Bush Hager has continued to lead Today’s fourth hour with a lineup of celebrity guest hosts since Kotb’s departure. She kicked off the week with E! News’ Justin Sylvester before being joined by Cohen. Tiffany Haddish will step in to cohost the rest of the week’s episodes.
