Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager had a touching reunion on Monday’s episode of Today, all thanks to an exciting piece of news that the former co-hosts couldn’t wait to celebrate.
During their catch-up, Hoda couldn’t help but show viewers her newest family member – a tiny Cavapoo puppy named Waffles.
New addition
“Look at her. Could you die?” Hoda grinned as she held up her puppy to the camera. “I am so in love with this dog.” Her former Today with Hoda & Jenna co-host chimed in with a hilarious quip about Waffles’ striking similarity to the Joy 101 founder.
“Hoda, I hate to say this, but you know when they say dogs kind of look like their owners? That dog has the same hair color as you,” Jenna said.
“We’re twinning. We are totally twinning!” her friend replied. “She’s the best, you guys.”
Milestone moment
© NBCHoda and Jenna were recently nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Talk Series Hosts for their work on Today with Hoda & Jenna, alongside heavy hitters like Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos, and Kelly Clarkson.
Hoda video called into the show to share her joy with Jenna, whom she co-hosted the fourth hour of Today with for almost six years.
“We’ve been nominated multiple times and yet we’ve never won, but to get to be nominated next to Hoda after the show is complete after we had our year together, our last year – which I know was really meaningful to me and I’m pretty sure it was meaningful for her,” Jenna said on the show.
© Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty IShe added that Hoda must feel like “the Susan Lucci of Daytime Emmy hosts,” referencing the All My Children star who was nominated 18 times before nabbing a win.
The duo have received several nominations, including in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Jenna shared that while they’ve never clinched a win, “this could be our year,” adding that “the last time’s a charm”.
The last hurrah
© Getty ImagesHoda exited the show in January to focus on raising her two daughters Haley and Hope, and launching her wellness app, Joy 101.
“Let me tell you something, this is our last hurrah,” she said on the show. “This is happening. ‘Kelly Clarkson, who?’ is what I’d like to say,” she quipped, referring to Kelly’s multiple Emmy wins in the same category.
“No, I’m kidding. We love Kelly so much. We love her. But it’s our turn. As I’ve said to Jenna, we’re gonna go get her. G-I-T E-R.”
© NBCWhen Jenna suggested that the pair throw themselves into campaigning for an Emmy win, Hoda indicated that the “law of attraction” would serve them best.
“Don’t chase him. No one runs for a bus they’re already on,” she said wisely.
“Hopefully we’ll be in our little sequin outfits whenever the Emmy comes up,” her former co-host quipped.
A new era
© Getty ImagesHoda has been enjoying her time away from TV, and launched her wellness app in May. The 60-year-old announced her exit from Today in September 2024, sharing that she wanted to be more present in her daughters’ lives.
“I just turned 60, and it was such a monumental moment for me when I turned 60 years old because I started thinking about that decade, like, what does that decade mean? What does it hold? What’s it gonna have for me?” she shared on the show. “And I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and to try something new.”
“I was thinking [Haley and Hope] deserve a bigger piece of my time, the pie that I have,” she added. “I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.”
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