ENTERTAINMENTJenna Bush Hager Explains 'Today' Show Tardiness After Co-Workers Wondered If She Was 'Gonna Make It'
Jenna Bush Hager revealed she was fresh off a plane after her co-workers expressed concern to Sheinelle Jones.
Aug. 10 2026, Published 4:52 p.m. ET
Jenna Bush Hager missed the first few hours of the Today show after heading to the studio fresh off a flight.
Bush Hager's co-host confessed that the studio was in a flurry before she rolled in just moments before going on air for TODAY With Jenna and Sheinelle on August 10.
"Everybody kept asking me … I mean, I’m not Jenna’s keeper," Sheinelle Jones quipped. "‘Where’s Jenna? Sheinelle, where’s Jenna? Is Jenna gonna make it?’ I’m like, 'Well, she didn’t text me, so that means it’s gonna be just fine.'”
'I'm Straight Off a Flight'
Jenna Bush Hager's regular segment was hosted by Savannah Guthrie.
"They let me miss the earlier hours, so I’m straight off a flight," Bush Hager responded.
While Bush Hager mainly hosts the fourth hour of the show, she often appears to greet guests on the plaza and for her "Morning Boost" segment, which was instead hosted by Savannah Guthrie.
"Then, I came in and I was like, ‘Oooh, no," she joked.
Savannah Guthrie helped make up for Jenna Bush Hager's absence.
Bush Hager explained that she had just returned from Maine, where she attended her twin sister Barbara Bush's son's baptism at her grandparents' home church.
"Well, I’m straight off a flight because I was in Maine with my family and my little nephew got baptized," she explained.
Barbara's son, Edward Finn Coyne, whom she shares with her husband, Craig Coyne, recently turned 2 years old. The extended family celebrated his baptism near the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport.
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Jenna Bush Hager headed to Maine for her nephew's baptism.
"There’s something evolutionary about looking up and seeing your twin sister hold this big ol’ baby," Jenna reminisced, getting misty-eyed. "I couldn’t help it. I was kind of weepy. But it was so fun to have all the cousins together."
During the ceremony, Jenna was asked to read the poem "When I Am Among the Trees" in honor of her nephew's baptism, which made her even more emotional.
"I was reading it, and it was in the church where I’ve gone with my grandparents my whole life. My kids were baptized there,” the mother-of-three said, tearing up once again. “I mean, see, what is wrong?”
What Is the Bush Family Compound?
Her nephew was baptized near the Bush family compound.
Jenna's grandparents, George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush, began frequenting the family's private estate, Walker's Point, in Maine during his stint as president.
It has since become a staple in the family's legacy, with Jenna frequently discussing her trips to the picturesque escape on her morning talk show.
Now, she and her husband, Henry Hager, take their children, Mila, Poppy and Hal, for frequent visits as her father, George W. Bush, and mother, Laura Bush, split their time there.
