ENTERTAINMENTWhere Is Jenna Bush Hager? Talk Show Host Missing from 'TODAY With Jenna & Friends' 1 Day After Return
Jenna Bush Hager was absent from the September 3 live broadcast of 'TODAY With Jenna & Friends.'
Sept. 3 2025, Published 3:33 p.m. ET
Jenna Bush Hager is MIA again.
Just one day after returning from her summer break in Italy, the talk show host, 43, was absent from the Wednesday, September 3, episode of TODAY With Jenna & Friends.
Willie Geist and Savannah Guthrie took her place for a live episode featuring interviews with David Duchovny and Zoey Deutsch.
Where Is Jenna Bush Hager?
Jenna Bush Hager went to Italy last week.
The guest co-hosts acted strangely mysterious about Bush Hager's whereabouts.
"Willie and I are here. Jenna’s out on assignment," Guthrie explained. "She’s got a really important assignment, you’ll hear more about that later."
As the duo entered the studio for the live taping, they joked that there would be "no Jenna, just friends" for the day.
"It’s nice that she let us take care of the show for the day," Guthrie exclaimed. "It’s like housesitting. It’s like, 'Did you water the plants? Did you feed the cats?'"
Jenna Bush Hager took time of from 'TODAY With Jenna & Friends' again after returning from her trip overseas.
Geist went on to ask his costar if they should "throw a party" while Bush Hager is out.
"Yeah we should throw a party! Let’s have a banger," Guthrie said, before recounting a secret party disaster from when she was in high school. "Let me tell you, they were finding beer cans in the gutter off the roof months later. And I was like, 'It’s spotless, they’ll never know.'"
The Today anchors mentioned they were only taking Bush Hager's place "for the day," so it's likely she will be back tomorrow.
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Is Jenna Bush Hager Leaving 'Today?'
Savannah Guthrie and Willie Geist substituted for Jenna Bush Hager.
Bush Hager decided to play hooky just one day after teasing about moving to Italy. The mom-of-three took a two-week hiatus from her co-hosting duties — which resumed on Monday, September 1 — for a family vacation. She was joined by her husband, Henry, and children, Mila, 13, Poppy, 9, and Hal, 5. Her youngest child would doze off in transport to different sights around the city.
"He would just kind of fall asleep, but he also spoke [Italian]. He would be like, 'Grazie mille,'" Jenna recalled in an Italian accent on September 2. "He would do it when we got home. He's like, 'Grazie millie. Bonjourno.' I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, maybe we just move to Italy and make Hal Italian.'"
"I think he would fit in really well from what I'm hearing right now," said Willie, who guest co-hosted on Tuesday as well.
Jenna Bush Hager Considered Moving to Texas
It's unclear when Jenna Bush Hager will return to 'TODAY With Jenna & Friends.'
In August, Jenna mused over moving back to her hometown in Texas.
"I have this sort of dream — I just think everybody should have chapters in their lives — I have a dream — I don’t know how realistic it is — but when the Jenna & Friends chapter comes to a close…" she said during the August 6 episode of TODAY With Jenna & Friends.
"Well, why would that ever happen?" guest co-host Matt Rogers interrupted her.
"Well.. linear television, baby!" she quipped. "Who knows? But when I’m ready to go to my next chapter, I think it would be so nice to move back to Texas and let my kids — I went to a big public high school — have a different life."
