Cut to 12:48 P.M. on a Wednesday afternoon in January, when Jenna Bush and Sheinelle Jones stride into their Today show set for their exclusive Parade cover story interview. Both arrived at Rockefeller Center around dawn, went live for the fourth hour of Today at 10 A.M. sharp (where they talked to Gabrielle Union and Sarah Jessica Parker) and then recorded a second installment to air on Friday. And yet their energy level is somehow still at a 10. Heck, the two are so chatty that they veer into a fun, off-the-record conversation before the first official question.
The two are also riding an adrenaline high: Just two days earlier, Today with Jenna & Sheinelle ushered in a new era of the venerable morning show. Originally started by Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford in 2008, the fourth hour of Today has evolved into a light-hearted and occasionally boozy balm to the hard news. “People are coming to us to take the heavy backpacks off,” Bush Hager says. “We want you to sit and laugh and feel good and comforted and hopefully feel like you’re with friends.”
Jenna Bush Hager’s Mom Didn’t Hover, Even When She Failed AP Spanish (12:12)
Jones does, too. The Wichita, Kansas-reared journalist worked her way up the old-fashioned way: After graduating from Northwestern University in 2000, she reported in various local markets and landed at NBC News in 2014. As an anchor of Weekend Today and 3rd Hour of Today, she shared her personal life with viewers—including the heartbreak of losing her husband of 17 years, Uche Ojeh, to glioblastoma in May 2025. Jones is now adjusting to life as a family of four with son Kayin, 16, and 13-year-old fraternal twins Clara and Uche Jr. “I’ve had to learn to be as present as I can in the moment,” she says.
Bush Hager’s road to TV went through the White House. The daughter of President George W. Bush (and granddaughter of 41stPresident George Bush), she was a freshman at the University of Texas when her dad was elected into office. In 2009, she was hired as an education correspondent for NBC News and her extroverted personality soon shined through the screen. “I wasn’t like ‘Let me come host a show,’” she says. “It was nowhere near the realm of possibility.” She wed businessman Henry Hager in 2009, and the pair have three children: Mila, 12, Poppy, 10 and Hal, 6.
Marc J. Franklin/NBC/Today
Parade: Sheinelle, when did this all really hit you?
Jenna Bush Hager: I’ve been doing this show for seven years, and I still remember that first-day feeling. The night before, I told my husband, “You're going to have to tranquilize me. I'm so excited.” Both sets of my grandparents loved Today—they loved Willard Scott and Al Roker. The fact that we get to work here is, like ... we never take it for granted.
Was the Today show on in the White House?
What kind of personality do you need to host the fourth hour of Today?
Jones: I am willing to learn and challenge myself. And how can we make this show great? If this is the next guest, what would I want to ask them? I love that I still love it. I love that I still care.
Bush Hager: I immediately loved her. You know, she's from Kansas, I'm from Texas. We had a lot in common.
Bush Hager: Are you saying the word “normal”?
Bush Hager: People do say I’m normal. Like, “How are you so normal?” I think it's a compliment.
Bush Hager: Yeah, well, she asked!
Bush Hager: In the hot tub.
Bush Hager: I have no idea! I don’t really care, you know? I mean, I was 18 years old when my dad was President. I'm 44 now. What that does is it creates a really thick skin. So the truth is, I can only be myself and not really worry what other people expect.
Bush Hager: I was the editor of my school newspaper. It wasn't necessarily about being on TV; I wanted to tell stories. After I was on the show to promote a book that I wrote, the executive producer was like, “You should do this [full time]. Are you interested?” I was like, “Are you kidding me?” I was teaching at a public school at the time and really focused on that. But he kept asking me. Finally, after two years, I was like, “You know what? Maybe I'll come take this interview.”
Bush Hager: We did get here in such different ways. When young women ask for advice, I say to be open because you never know. I remember even my grandparents were like, “You're not going to take the interview with the Today show?!” Things can come at you in different ways, but only if you’re open, only if you show up and only if you do the work.
Are your kids friends with each other?
When you’re this busy, is it easy to shrug off Mom mistakes?
Jones: You know, they say you're only as happy as your least happy child. And obviously my kids have gone through a lot, and so I can sit here and I can laugh, but all I care about really and truly is how are my kids doing this morning?
Do you ever call your moms for parenting advice?
Bush Hager: I call it backseat parenting.
Bush Hager: Neither is mine.
Bush Hager: I found a letter that my mom wrote to me at camp when I was 16. I was like a counselor. She was like, “Dear Jenna, we received your AP scores. The bad news, you got a 1 in Spanish. But excellent news, you got a 5 in psychology. And I didn't even know you took AP Psychology.” I think that’s probably why we're successful—we didn't have anybody sitting over and saying, “Do your homework, go do this.” We had to self-motivate.
Sheinelle, you’ve gone from the lowest of the personal to the highest of the professional. How do you navigate that?
Related: Sheinelle Jones Says ‘Every Day Is Like Swimming Through Mud’ as She Fights to Find Joy After Husband’s Death
Bush Hager: Love Actually
As of today, what book is on your nightstand?
Related: Jenna Bush Hager Names This ‘Stunning Memoir’ Her January Book Club Pick — A Tender Mother-Son Love Story
As of today, which TV show are you watching?
Jones: I just finished binge-watching Emily in Paris, and then I just finished Eddie Murphy's documentary [Being Eddie].
Bush Hager: I love a Cheeto—orange fingers and all.
And as of today, what's your go-to music?
Bush Hager: I'm obsessed with Brandi Carlile. Her new album is very good. There's a song called “Me Without You,” which is about kids growing up. I listen and cry, listen and cry.
Bush Hager: It’s pajamas. Because every night, Hal likes to pick out my pajamas. It's a weird thing we do. Usually, it just gives me time to wash my face and brush my teeth before I can go to read to him. Even if I’m in jeans and a sweater and I put on pajamas, I know sleep is near.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity
Next up: Jenna Bush Hager Picked These Books in 2025 and Readers Are Still Obsessed
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