- Jenna Bush Hager opened up about her childhood struggles with body image during a segment on TODAY With Hoda & Jenna.
- The TODAY co-host recalled a moment in her teenage years when she “wanted to hide” after her grandmother made a comment about her weight.
- Bush Hager’s story is resonating with hundreds of TODAY viewers, with fans flooding the comments with messages of support.
Jenna Bush Hager is getting candid about her childhood struggles with body image.
During a segment on TODAY With Hoda & Jenna, the 41-year-old news anchor opened up to co-host Hoda Kotb about a particularly impactful moment from her teenage years that influenced her perception about her weight.
“I remember being a teenager—I remember the bikini color I was wearing, a yellow bikini color,” she recalled. “I was laying next to my sister, and my grandmother, who I adored, but had kind of a biting personality, said something like, ‘Oh, Jenna! Looking chubby.’
Bush Hager shared that her grandmother’s comment had a big impact on her. “I remember feeling like I wanted to hide in it,” she said.
Bush Hager then revealed that she later came to better understand where her grandmother’s comments were coming from—but that didn’t make them any less biting. “[My grandmother] later told me that her mother said those types of things to her. Her mother always thought of her sister as the really beautiful one and would say it. ‘Martha’s the pretty one. You’re the funny one. You’re the smart one,’” she said. “And so like late, late at life, she said, ‘When I said those things to you, I was talking to myself.’”
Bush Hager’s recollection then led the TODAY co-hosts to reflect on “the magnitude that even the tiniest passing comments can have” on one’s body image, especially with what parents might say to their own children without realizing the long-term effects it may have.
“Even what parents say to their kids, ‘Is that too tight?’” added Kotb. “You’re trying really hard to let your kids have a good body image…Any little thing can get under your skin.”
Needless to say, Bush Hager’s candid story made a big impact with TODAY viewers, with hundreds of fans flooding the comments to send messages of support for the co-host—and to even thank her for starting an important discussion.
“This is such an important conversation to have…and so appreciate you sharing your story so openly @jennabhager ❤️,” wrote one fan. “Thank you for being transparent and humble to share that others can relate!” another commented.
Others joined in on the conversation, recounting their own experiences with body image issues. “This conversation is so important. The ripple effect of generations of diet culture is profound,” wrote one fan. “Changing the way we speak about bodies (to our kids but also to each other) can change self-esteem and disordered eating risk for future generations.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Bush Hager has opened up about her struggles with body image—the TODAY co-host has long been candid about the topic, even revealing that she wanted to lose weight as early as first grade.
“I opened my first-grade journal so I must have been 7 or 8. I could barely write, I could definitely not spell, and my New Year’s Resolution was to lose four pounds,” she said. “I actually I had scratched out seven and wrote four.”
Bush Hager has also previously expressed concern about passing on her body image issues to her daughters, 9-year-old Mila and 7-year-old Poppy. In the past, the TODAY co-host has revealed that she’s careful not to discuss weight with them—and in a heartfelt open letter to her daughters in 2017, she wrote that she wanted her girls to know that “who you are is more important than how you look.”
“You will see images on TV and in movies and magazines to which you will inevitably compare yourself. And you will feel that you come up short. I know that I did,” she wrote. “You, too, will look in the mirror and not always like what you see. You might not feel skinny enough or pretty enough. But if Daddy and I do our jobs, you will look in the mirror and always like who you see. And that, my babes, is far more important.”
Hannah Jeon is an Associate Commerce Editor at Prevention, where she covers expert-driven commerce content for all things health, beauty, and wellness. Previously the Editorial Assistant at Good Housekeeping, she earned her bachelor’s degree in creative writing and psychology from Johns Hopkins University. When she’s not on the hunt for all the best products online, you can often find her trying out new food spots in New York City or clicking away behind a camera.
