Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager got emotional in the middle of an ordinary conversation while thinking about Kotb’s last month at the “Today” show.
The “Today with Hoda and Jenna” co-hosts became teary-eyed while talking about how Bush Hager wants to pay extra attention to Kotb at an upcoming party they’re both attending because of Kotb’s imminent departure from “Today.”
“I’m in the phase of losing Hoda called studying,” Bush Hager said on Tuesday’s episode of the talk show. “I’m studying Hoda at this point, and I’d like to study your behaviors tonight and see how you’ve changed.”
Kotb, 60, laughed and lovingly looked at Bush Hager, 43, while telling her co-host, “You know what? I love you. I just love you.”
Bush Hager then pat Kotb on the back as they stared at each other and wiped away their tears.
“What’s happening? Oh God,” Bush Hager asked, to which Kotb quipped, “I don’t know!”
“It’s the depression stage today,” Bush Hager declared.
Kotb laughed while Bush Hager explained that she’s been going through the five stages of grief –– denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance –– ever since Kotb announced her upcoming exit in September.
“I’ve already been through denial,” Bush Hager said while both laughing and crying. “Denial lasted a good month!”
The former first daughter revealed that she faced the anger phase last week when she suggested that “CBS Mornings” co-anchor Gayle King should replace Kotb just to make her “jealous.”
“I’ve bargained with God basically every night for the last couple months. And now, I’ve hit depression where she says one thing and I ––” she concluded while motioning to tears running down her face.
Kotb reiterated that she loves Bush Hager and Bush Hager repeated the sentiment through sniffles.
Shortly after Kotb told viewers that she’d be leaving both “Today” and “Today with Hoda and Jenna,” she discussed her decision with Bush Hager during an emotional conversation.
“Saying goodbye to something this amazing is hard,” Kotb said through tears on Sept. 26.
“It weighed a lot on me. I went back and forth and back and forth, and then I thought to myself, ‘You know, I think this decade I think I’m going to have to start choosing me.’”
Bush Hager cried while admitting that her first reaction to the news was telling Kotb, “‘No! You can’t leave!’”
“It is magical and powerful and it feels like that here, and you’re who I come to when I’m feeling joyful, when I’m feeling unsure, you are who I come to, and you believed in me first,” Bush Hager said.
Since then, the morning show has announced that “Today” show correspondent Craig Melvin will fill in for Kotb during the news portion of the morning, while Bush Hager will “date” different anchors and friends as co-hosts before finding a more permanent replacement. Kotb’s last day will be Jan. 10.
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