Jenna Bush Hager Takes Us Behind the Scenes of Jenna & Friends

Jenna’s life has been defined by partnership. A twin to sister Barbara, who is the vice president of social impact at the NBA, she says she’s had a partner in every aspect of her life “since the womb.” She believes in the power of collaboration. And luckily, her life is full of models of what partnership can do.

“What I look for in a partner is exactly what Hoda has given me: trust, fun, support…somebody that’s willing to share and be open and vulnerable. It’s also what my husband gives me, and my sister gives me, and my friends give me,” she says. 

Jenna emphasizes, too, the behind-the-scenes partnerships that will make her new era possible. At TODAY, meetings with producers are punctuated by laughter and enthusiasm. When the cameras roll, she enjoys making the team laugh as they watch their segments come to life.

“Now, there’s this trepidation — ‘I’m doing this show by myself.’ But I’m not doing it alone. We have this incredible team. And I honestly mean that, and I’m going to need them,” she says. 

She also feels supported by the viewers at home who are along for the ride. “Every day somebody says to me, ‘I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen.’ I don’t think they realize how much I need that, because I’m doing something for the first time — but I don’t feel alone.”

A new chapter for Read With Jenna

Jenna’s 2025 dating era, it turns out, includes books.

Her book club, Read With Jenna, has championed debut novels and diverse voices since 2019. The club has launched 47 bestsellers and many literary careers over the course of its 70+ picks; Shelby Van Pelt’s “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” also known as “the octopus book,” was a particular breakout, selling millions of copies. Jenna has also become a literary force who has interviewed the likes of Colleen Hoover and Sarah J. Maas and launched a podcast, Open Book with Jenna, where she speaks with celebrities and authors about numerous topics, including what’s on their shelves.

This year, through her production company Thousand Voices, she’s launching an imprint with Random House, which will publish eight to 12 books a year. So far, she says, all are debut novels written by women, with authors ranging from their 20s to their 60s across genres. She describes their first book, “Conform,” out in October 2025, as a dystopian love story. 

Read With Jenna will stay “exactly as it is,” she says; the books chosen for her imprint won’t be part of the club. What will change is Jenna’s role in the making of books, period. Through her imprint, she’ll have more of a hand in bringing stories to life, using insights she learned from her years with Read With Jenna.

“To be part of the creative process in an industry that I’ve been so obsessed with since third grade reading ‘A Dog Called Kitty’ or AP English reading ‘Snow Falling on Cedars,’ I cannot believe it,” she says. “It’s so fun to have editorial control.”

Jenna never set out to be a force in the book world — just like she never intended to be a TODAY co-anchor. Instead, she’s been guided by a sense of fun.

“Everything that’s good in my life has happened organically. I wasn’t like, ‘Let’s build a book club that will sell tons of books.’ I just was like, ‘I love to read.’ Let me prove to you that people my age love to read, too. It was kind of a dare,” she says.

“It’s about doing what you’re obsessed with,” she continues with a sparkle in her eye. “Then it never feels overly like working. It just feels like creating.” 

The fun will go on

Fittingly, when Jenna was younger, she was known as “the fun one” and her sister was “the serious one.” 

She thought being fun meant she couldn’t be other things — like smart or interesting. Now, she knows better. During a recent trip to the White House for a party, someone told her they were struck by how similar she was to her on-air persona. 

“They were like, ‘You’re exactly who you are on TV.’ And I am like that. For better or worse, that’s me,” she says. “People don’t want somebody that’s pretending to be somebody else. They want people that are themselves.”

She’s not a perfectionist, especially when it comes to TV. As a result, she allows herself to be herself, all the time. And fun comes along naturally, just like it did when she was a girl. “If making people feel joy is my contribution, then I’m going to own it,” she says. 

She continues: “My priorities are in a good place for me to take something like this on. My babies, my husband, my friends, my parents — they are my life. And I love what I do. I feel grounded, centered and not worried.” 

As she begins a new year by closing one chapter and entering another, Jenna has a message to herself a year from now: “Look what we’ve done. God, it’s still so fun.”