Jenna Bush Hager Explains 2-Hour Today Absence After Maine Baptism Trip

Q: What hidden family milestone caused Jenna Bush Hager to vanish from the early hours of the Today show?

Jenna Bush Hager missed the early hours of *Today* because she had gone to Maine for her nephew’s baptism. She said she flew straight back to New York after attending the ceremony for her twin sister Barbara Pierce Bush’s son, Edward Finn Coyne, and made it in time for the 10 a.m. hour, *Today With Jenna & Sheinelle*. Bush Hager described the baptism as especially emotional because it was held at the church she attended with her grandparents growing up and where her own children were baptized. She also said she got teary while reading Mary Oliver’s poem “When I Am Among the Trees” and was moved seeing her twin sister holding the baby.

Q: After Hoda Kotb's 2025 exit, why did Jenna Bush Hager's sudden morning absence send Today show fans into a frenzy?

Jenna Bush Hager’s brief absence triggered outsized concern because, after Hoda Kotb’s January 2025 departure, Bush Hager became the central constant of the show’s fourth hour and a key part of *Today*’s broader morning lineup. Viewers are used to seeing her across multiple early segments, including “Jenna’s Morning Boost,” *Pop Start* and the plaza appearances before she co-hosts the 10 a.m. hour. So when she was missing from the 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. broadcasts without immediately appearing on air, fans noticed quickly and began asking Sheinelle Jones where she was and whether she would make it. The reaction was heightened by the show’s recent history. After Kotb left, Bush Hager carried the hour with a rotating cast of guest hosts before Jones became her permanent co-host. That transition made Bush Hager especially identified with the program’s stability, and it also made her pairing with Jones more visible to viewers. Bush Hager herself joked that the audience response showed the two had become “cemented as a pair.” In reality, there was no emergency. She had been in Maine for her nephew’s baptism and flew straight back to New York, arriving in time for *Today With Jenna & Sheinelle*. She said the family event was deeply emotional because it took place at the church tied to her childhood, grandparents and her own children’s baptisms.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 11

Jenna Bush Hager said she missed the first two hours of Today on Aug. 10 because she had just flown back from Maine, where her nephew was baptized.
The 44-year-old returned for the show's fourth hour and said the family ceremony turned emotional as she read a Mary Oliver poem in the church her family has long attended.
Hager said seeing her twin sister holding the baby made her "kind of weepy," while also calling the gathering fun because the cousins were together.
Her absence came during a morning with several Today regulars off-air, while Savannah Guthrie returned after recent time away to film the upcoming game show Wordle.