NEWSJenna Bush Hager Recalls Being Body Shamed By Grandmother As A Teenager: She Had A 'Biting Personality'
Jenna Bush Hager recalled wanting to "hide" when her grandmother Barbara Bush body-shamed her as a teenager.
Talking candidly about her relationship with Barbara on the Today show, Jenna shared that she was wearing a yellow bikini when the former first lady told her she was "looking chubby."
Clarifying that she "adored" her family member, Jenna pointed out that her late family member, who died in 2018, had a "biting personality."
Barbara later apologized to the former first daughter for the comment, admitting she was really "talking to [herself]" since her own mother, Pauline Pierce, "said those types of things" to her growing up.
“Her mother always thought of her sister as the really beautiful one and would say it,” Jenna shared with her Today viewers. “‘Martha’s the pretty one. You’re the funny one. You’re the smart one.'”
Despite her grandmother's apology, Jenna revealed she still didn't "wear a bikini for years" — not until after she welcomed her three kids via C-sections.
The host shares daughters Mila, 9, and Poppy, 7, and son Hal, 3, with her husband, Henry Hager.
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Jenna has been open about her body image issues in the past, revealing to NBC viewers in January 2016 that she stumbled upon a past New Year's resolution of hers to lose four pounds.
"It broke my heart," she recalled at the time, declaring that she vowed to stop setting weight loss goals.
The Everything Beautiful in Its Time author also made it a point to note that her own mom, Laura Bush, never put pressure on her about her image or weight.
Meanwhile, Jenna has made other confessions about her life on television that have left people speechless. In an early December 2022 appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, the mother-of-three revealed she opted out of wearing underwear at a meeting with King Charles III.
"It was a beautiful tight dress," Jenna said in defense while discussing the recent revelation that she rarely wears undergarments. "It would have shown."
As OK! reported, Hoda Kotb hilariously exposed her cohost for "never wearing underwear" during an episode of Today with Hoda and Jenna in mid November 2022.
