Jenna Bush Hager will have some new faces joining her as co-hosts Today show after Hoda Kotb comes out later this week — and the list is star-studded!
On Monday, Jan. 6, Bush Hager, 43, announced on air that as Kotb, 60, finishes his final week as co-host on Today, a rotating list of celebrity guests will step in to help fill the void, including Taraji P. Henson, Eva Longoria and Keke Palmer.
“It’s going to be our Wonder Woman month,” Bush Hager said during Monday’s broadcast, revealing that three actresses will be joining her during the week of January 13.
“You know what that says? Heavy hitter, home run, wow,” Hoda chimed in. “This is a big week.”
“We love those women, we said we love those women,” Bush Hager added. “I feel like Hoda helped me manifest this. No one will ever take this chair, but the three of them can certainly try.”
Hoda Kotb announces that she is leaving Today Show after 17 years that focused on his children: ‘Right decision, but painful’
Hoda Kotb (left) and Jenna Bush Hager.
Nathan Congleton/NBC/Getty
Henson, Longoria and Palmer appeared on Today multiple times, each coming as a guest to share comedy bits, talk about their business ventures and more.
Recently rebranded Today with Jenna and friends will begin on January 13, and the morning talk show will feature a rotating roster of co-hosts until a permanent one is named. The pair also revealed that the show will have a new theme song, which Bush Hager introduced on Monday.
“I imagined you and how proud I would be of you, walking from that wall to this table with that song,” Hoda told her co-host during the show. “It’s going to be great. It’s going to be amazing.”
Kotb first announced her plans to leave her role on Today Sept. 26 after 17 years on the show and 25 years in total with NBC, telling PEOPLE shortly after that she plans to focus on spending time with her family after her youngest daughter’s medical emergency in 2023.
“I was kind of thinking, wondering, thinking about what I wanted this next part of my life to look like after I turned 60. And I like adventure, I like new beginnings. I’m an outgoing person, not an outgoing person, and I was wondering what does that look like for me?” she told PEOPLE in early October.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(658x340:660x342)/Jenna-Bush-Hager-Announces-Celebrity-Replacements-Hoda-010625-02-dc4e97e959c24954b097a95f7fe1ad10.jpg)
Hoda Kotb (left) and Jenna Bush Hager in November 2024.
Nathan Congleton/NBC/Getty
Hoda Kotb opens the story of leaving Today being with your kids: ‘Something’s Gotta Give’ (Exclusive)
“… There’s the guilt you carry because you can’t be 100% at work and 100% at home,” she added. “Something has to give if you want excellence. If you want to be great at work, you have to give something at home. And if you want to be great at home, I think excellentand do all things, something has to give at work. It can’t be equal.”
But Kotb won’t be leaving NBC entirely, as she noted the plan is still “formulating,” she said in another interview with PEOPLE.
“It will include some specials, a podcast and maybe the Olympics, things like that,” Creating space the podcast host explained at the time. “It’s going to be like that kind of thing. So it’s going to be specials and all that stuff. And I think every month I’m going to go back to Today show and do a little something in this space, which I think will be fun.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The Today the show airs weekdays, beginning at 7 a.m. ET, on NBC.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education