Jenna Bush Hager Is 'Shocked' About Rachel Zoe Joining 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills': 'I Gasped'

Jenna Bush Hager had a strong reaction to Rachel Zoe's impending Real Housewives debut.

During the Friday, June 13, episode of TODAY With Jenna & Friends, the talk show host, 43, was stunned that the fashion designer would even want to return to reality TV.

"I'm shocked," Bush Hager declared. "I gasped. I'm surprised, because I didn't know that Rachel Zoe would be into it."

Guest co-host Andy Cohen concurred that "Jenna Bush gasped in the dressing room this morning when she found out."

"Rachel Zoe kind of started her television career on Bravo with The Rachel Zoe Project, and she was so iconic in those years," Cohen explained. "She had so many catch phrases. Now, the great thing is, she legitimately knows Boz [Saint John], Sutton [Stracke], Jennifer Tilly, Kathy Hilton. She knows them, and she's in that universe, so she's going to fit right in, perfectly."

Bush Hager seemed surprised by Zoe's wide network across the Bravo-verse, exclaiming, "Oh, those are her pals?"

Cohen went on to confirm Kyle Richards' return to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

"I don't know if I'm supposed to announce that, but she is," he said, noting he's excited she's coming back for Season 15.

Zoe, 53, reportedly joined the cast for monetary reasons following her September 2024 divorce from her husband and business partner, Rodger Berman, 55.

"The money has been tighter for them for a while. It's complicated because essentially, their entire lives are intertwined," a source spilled to an outlet. "He runs all her businesses so there is no separation of work and home life. And there is no separation of his work and hers."

Berman is the co-founder and co-CEO of Rachel Zoe, Inc, as well as the co-founder and managing partner of Rachel Zoe Ventures.

"They built this together, which is a big reason she joined RHOBH," the insider continued. "She wanted to venture out and do something that didn't involve him...she needs the money, sure, but even more so, she needs to start branching out on her own now that they are no longer together...when they finally do divorce, it's going to cost a fortune, and she needs to be prepared."

The couple was married for 26 years and together for 33 years before growing apart.

"This divorce was a long time coming. There is no scandal or smoking gun, it’s more death by a thousand cuts," a second source divulged. "Their main issues were mixing their personal and professional lives too much. Rodger is the president of her company, so they had to have hard conversations about their marriage and about the business that weighed on their relationship."

Zoe and Berman share two children, Skyler, 14, and Kaius, 11.