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Will Jenna Bush Hager's Dad Co-Host Jenna and Friends?
Parade
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3/28/2025
Will Jenna Bush Hager's dad, former president George W. Bush, co-host 'Jenna and Friends'? The 'TODAY' host and her twin sister Barbara Pierce Bush sit down with Parade to discuss their latest children's book, 'I Loved You First.'
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Lifestyle
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00:00
So your new book, very excited, third one in the series, you dedicated it to your parents.
00:09
Did they read it?
00:10
What were their thoughts on it?
00:11
Well, we dedicated it to our parents and also to our kids because I think what we've realized
00:16
after becoming moms ourselves is how dedicated our parents were to like creating a magical
00:24
childhood for us and also just being with us, being present, being part of our lives.
00:30
And then we've seen the beauty of seeing the world through our kids' eyes over the last
00:36
now, 12 years for me.
00:39
I don't...
00:40
Mom and dad...
00:41
Mom definitely read it.
00:42
Mom read it and thought it was sweet.
00:43
Yes.
00:44
And we, there's, our illustrator is beautiful and she did beautiful illustrations of different
00:48
scenes in nature, which is an honor of our mom.
00:51
Her mom, her mom, Jenna Welch, was a naturalist and loved nature and taught her and then she
00:56
therefore taught us to love nature.
00:59
And so the illustrations are also very much in honor of her and she loved them.
01:02
So inspiring.
01:03
I know your dad was a painter.
01:04
Did he have any opinions on it?
01:06
I mean, we, our dream is to do something with him at some point.
01:09
Yes.
01:10
We would love for him to be our illustrator, but we're still working on it.
01:15
It may take some time.
01:16
We'll discuss it in the future.
01:19
Maybe when we see him over our book tour.
01:22
So you said Mila is just about 12.
01:24
Did she offer her opinion on this book?
01:26
She didn't, but I mean, we sort of, this is kind of for the younger reader.
01:32
She's fully reading like The Summer I Turned Pretty and Twilight and other such reads.
01:39
But Hal was very insistent that there was a picture of baby Edward in it.
01:45
He was like, cause he sort of feels like each book is for a different child.
01:49
He was like, that book was for me.
01:51
The last book was for me.
01:53
And so he's like, this book is for baby Edward.
01:55
And I was like, well, yes.
01:57
And all the readers, but Hal has, and I said to Hal, well, we may retire, this may be our
02:01
last book.
02:02
And he goes, what?
02:03
I like it.
02:04
I really am a fan of your children's books.
02:07
So at least one person is into it.
02:09
Does Hal feel like a big brother now that he has a little cousin?
02:12
Yes.
02:13
But, and I have a three-year-old daughter, Cora Georgia, who loves Hal Hager and everything
02:18
that he does, she thinks is the funniest thing she's ever seen.
02:21
So I think he feels like a big brother and like he has his true, he found his true fan.
02:27
Did you ever think of having them on the show for Janet and Friends, a little co-hosting?
02:31
Hila wanted to co-host.
02:32
Oh, she did?
02:33
Yeah, she wanted to co-host, but she's had at least a yearly ban for her last appearance,
02:38
which was inappropriate.
02:41
She spilled his family secret.
02:45
She never wears underwear.
02:48
Therefore, but she's still like, can I please come on and co-host with dad?
02:52
Like she still asks.
02:53
Henry's thought is she's in sixth grade.
02:56
She should be at school.
02:57
She shouldn't be missing sixth grade to come and co-host.
03:00
But maybe when we're towards the very end, summer, this summer, yeah, when she's not
03:06
in school.
03:07
Good thinking.
03:08
What was the hardest part about joining your sister for co-hosting?
03:11
I know family business, it's not always the easiest.
03:14
Well, I am very private and co-hosting is inherently not private, but I obviously love
03:21
getting to see Jenna in her elements and meet her team and, and see how much they love her.
03:27
And so it's also really fun for me to get to do it.
03:30
She's also so good at it.
03:31
For somebody that never does it and doesn't even own a television, she's quite excellent.
03:35
You don't own a television?
03:37
She owns a television, but I'm just not a TV watcher.
03:40
You stream some stuff here and there.
03:43
Well, I overheard you kind of had your pick of who you think has done the best on the show.
03:48
I think they've all been amazing.
03:50
I loved Eva Longoria, Ciara, all the Saturday Night Live people, all the country people.
03:56
I mean, it's been amazing.
03:57
Of course, I fell in love with Scarlett Johansson and Dwayne Wade.
04:00
That's like a different thing, you know, but they all have all been so fun.
04:05
Yeah, so did the internet, I will say that.
04:08
They love Scar Jo.
04:09
They want her back.
04:10
They actually liked everybody.
04:12
It's a bit of a tough pick, but they also want to see your parents.
04:14
Who's here to help?
04:15
We heard that.
04:16
We heard that.
04:17
Would you want that?
04:18
She's working on it.
04:19
Yeah, of course.
04:20
I mean, we have to really, I was like, we need to program a show so he thinks he's not
04:24
doing men's style.
04:26
We are a beauty segment.
04:27
He's a former president, so I feel like we have to get something that fits his interests.
04:35
But yeah, maybe for Father's Day.
04:36
We're just going to throw that into the universe that we don't know because he hasn't accepted.
04:42
If you could ask anyone knowing that their answer would be yes, who would it be?
04:46
Oprah.
04:47
Oprah?
04:48
Who would you ask?
04:49
Well, Oprah.
04:50
Or I think Celine Dion or a throwback classic like that could be ready.
04:54
That's a great idea.
04:55
Celine.
04:56
An icon.
04:57
An icon.
04:58
Oh, we should just do icon week?
04:59
Yeah.
05:00
Perfect.
05:01
Celine.
05:02
Oprah.
05:03
Yeah.
05:04
The list will grow.
05:05
It will.
05:06
I know Travis Kelsey has kind of said he wants to transition to onscreen work when he's done
05:08
with his NFL career.
05:10
Has he been in the run for consideration for guest hosting?
05:14
Not that I know of, although I'm not in the no on every single person, but that'd be a
05:20
good one.
05:21
Travis Kelsey.
05:22
Yeah.
05:23
I like it.
05:24
We have some really cool ones coming up.
05:25
I can't say who, but we are booked through the spring and we have some really fun ones.
05:29
I'll tell you tomorrow.
05:31
Some unexpected ones too.
05:33
Can't wait.
05:34
Have you stayed in contact with Hoda?
05:35
What does she think of your segment?
05:37
I talk to Hoda all the time.
05:40
She's just the most supportive always and totally optimistic and she'll definitely text
05:46
in her favorites.
05:47
I know you had said eighth grade with social media is when you would consider letting your
05:51
kids.
05:52
No, eighth grade is when they get a phone.
05:54
Social media is like 16.
05:55
Okay.
05:56
I was going to say, Mula's getting there.
05:58
Is she pushing for it?
05:59
I know TikTok's like everything.
06:00
No, she's really not.
06:01
I mean, I think boundaries are super helpful in explaining sort of why we're doing things
06:07
differently.
06:08
Almost every friend in her friend group does have one, but her best friends from across
06:14
her life, many of them's parents are also waiting, so it's kind of a good thing.
06:19
She's not the only one, but no, I mean, I think it's a conversation for sure.
06:24
I don't want it to be such a hard no that there's an obsession with it when it happens,
06:29
so we're just trying to figure it out, but no, she's still phoneless.
06:33
Pretty good on your part.
06:34
I mean, I was 12 years old and this was before phones were a thing.
06:37
I was begging my parents for this, so I can't even imagine, but...
06:40
Well, there's so much more information now than when you were 12, and so I can say to
06:46
her like, show me a piece of information where you can say that phones are good for your
06:50
brain and we'll discuss, which does not come up.
06:54
Your youngest is going to be turning one at the end of August or sometime in August.
06:58
Do you have any big plans?
06:59
Is there anything fun going on over the summer?
07:01
Well, my three-year-old is in school, so that's been a big transition for her to be a big
07:06
sister and have a baby brother, and our life is very centered around them right now, so
07:12
we'll have a birthday for him, but I think it'll be more about her showering, her choosing
07:17
what her little brother, what his birthday is like, just because his memory won't necessarily
07:23
remember it.
07:24
And by the way, Mila did that for Poppy, and it was Poppy's flamingo first.
07:28
Cute.
07:29
I remember that.
07:30
So you never know what the vibe is going to be.
07:31
It'll be a theme like that chosen by his big sister.
07:33
Yeah.
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