Jenna Bush Hager Asks Fans To “Chill Out” Amid Search For Hoda Kotb’s ‘Today’ Replacement: “Our Audience Deserves The Time”
Friday, January 10, will be a sad day in daytime television.
Hoda Kotb is officially retiring from The Today Show and Today With Hoda & Jenna, the 10 o’clock hour she’s co-hosted with Jenna Bush Hager since 2021. Kotb has been on three iterations of that hour of The Today Show – previously with Kathie Lee Gifford, and another iteration with Ann Curry and Natalie Morales. Now, it’s Bush Hager’s turn to take the lead with Today With Jenna & Friends.
But fans are wondering who will be replacing Kotb at Bush Hager’s side.
In a recent interview, Bush Hager admitted that she is “involved” in the search for her next co-host.
“What I loved about doing the show was Hoda, you know?” she said. She also confirmed that there is no set deadline for when she should find her new co-host.
“Chill out,” she advised. “I feel like our audience deserves the time to get to know a ton of different people, ton of different backgrounds. We’re hoping to pull up the chairs to all different types of people. I think there will be some surprises for sure. And so it’s like when we know, I think we’ll know.”
Today finally announced which celebs will be up first to join Bush Hager on her new show: Taraji P. Henson, Keke Palmer, and Eva Longoria. Henson will reportedly host again on Friday, as well. Additional guest hosts will be announced on the show tomorrow, Jan. 7.
As executive producer Talia Parkinson-Jones put it, the new show format will show Bush Hager “dating” new hosts.
“Hoda is the queen, you know, and she brings something so special. I don’t think you can ever replicate that,” Parkinson-Jones said. “We’re in this new version of the show, and it’s really Jenna’s dating. We get a chance to meet different people, and we’ll fall in love one day, but until then we’re just having a really good time.”
This final week on Today will be one big Hoda-bration, culminating in one last broadcast in Studio 8 with a live audience.
Today With Jenna & Friends will premiere 10 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 13.
