Hoda Kotb left distracted live on Today over co-star's change to appearance
By Hanna Fillingham,
2024-09-17
Hoda Kotb has a close bond with her Today co-stars, making for many fun moments on the weekday show.
On Tuesday's episode of the Fourth Hour with Hoda & Jenna , the NBC star was left distracted after suddenly noticing a change to Jenna Bush Hager 's hairstyle during a chat about their children.
Changing the subject, Hoda asked her friend and co-star: "I love your headband. Is that a headband or is that your hair?" as she admired a braid across the top of Jenna's hair.
"It's a braid," Jenna replied, leaving Hoda to stop in her tracks. "They braided your hair that way?" she asked, sounding impressed and confused at the same time.
Jenna teased: "It could be faux," as she smiled directly at the camera. "I don't know. It could be faux or it could be real," she continued, causing the studio audience to start laughing.
"Get in there and see if you can tell," she told Hoda, prompting her to touch the braid. "Oh I see, I like it!" she said laughing, realizing that Jenna's hairstyle was indeed a headband. "I'm trying to do new things," the mother-of-three told Hoda.
"I hand it to you," she replied encouragingly, as Jenna admitted that the new look was an "experiment".Hoda and Jenna have a great working relationship and have been co-hosting the Fourth Hour of Today since April 2019.
Jenna replaced Kathie Lee Gifford following the star's decision to leave the show for retirement.
During their time together, Hoda and Jenna have celebrated many joyful moments, including the birth of Jenna's third child Hal, now four.
They have also been there for each other during difficult times, including Hoda's split from ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman in January 2022, and most recently, Hoda's worries over her daughter Hope's health.
Hope was admitted to hospital in February 2023 and during that time, Hoda took some time off work to be there for her child.
She has since written a book, Hope is a Rainbow, about her daughter's bravery, although has decided not to disclose her daughter's condition to protect her privacy.
Hoda and Jenna often meet up outside of work and their children are good friends. Jenna told HELLO! in a past interview that working with Hoda is never boring and admitted that the pair are often in fits of laughter while filming.
"I feel like Hoda and I laugh hysterically, we can get into that laughter where we're not supposed to laugh," Jenna said.
"That church laughter where we're like 'We're going to get into trouble'," she added.
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