When longtime fixture Kathie Lee Gifford leaves the Today show in April, Jenna Bush Hager will take over co-hosting duties for the morning show’s popular fourth hour.
The news, exclusively revealed by PEOPLE on Tuesday, was jointly announced on-air when Gifford and her co-host Hoda Kotb sat down to open the 10 o’clock hour, joking that it was the “worst-kept secret in show business.” After an emotional Bush Hager, 37, took a seat between the two women, she admitted the news made her want to “weep.”
“It feels humbling and I can’t believe it,” said Bush Hager, who spent her teen years in the White House while her father George W. Bush served two terms as president. “My dad just wrote me three words which made me weep: ‘very proud dad.’ “
“Here at NBC and around the country, Jenna is loved,” said Kotb, 54.
“Beloved,” chimed in Gifford, 65.
“Kath is a legend and I still can’t believe … that I have had the great privilege of sitting next to you for 11 years,” Kotb said.
Turning to face Gifford, Bush Hager remarked, “Nobody can sip your Chardonnay.”
“It’s Pinot Grigio,” Gifford replied. “Sure they can!”
Bush Hager said Gifford has been “such a model” and “so generous with her time.”
“You are beloved here in so many ways and if I can use some of your grace and have a half of what you’ve done, my life will be a very happy one,” she said.
“This day is about you,” Gifford insisted, before recalling the 2018 Winter Olympics, when Bush Hager filled in for Kotb for two weeks.
“Those two weeks, I saw you blossom,” Gifford said. “You started to trust your instincts, you started to believe in yourself. That you are not only a presence and a gift but you earned it. You earned the right to sit and be something to all these wonderful people that watch us everyday. When you stopped caring what people think, that’s when the magic happened.”
“You keep trusting your instincts,” she added. “And you’re going to sit next to the best person in the world. She has your back because she has your heart. It’s going to be fun. You guys are going to have a ball. I’m going to tune in whenever I can.”
Bush Hager first joined the Today show in 2009, later transitioning to a more permanent role on the show as contributor. Gifford announced in December that she would be moving on in the spring after 11 years in the role to pursue personal projects, including producing Christian music and films.
Almost immediately after the announcement of Gifford’s departure, insiders looked to Bush Hager as the likely new co-host, with a source telling PEOPLE the former first daughter was the “favorite” for the position.
“She is a favorite among viewers and staffers and she has already filled in for Kathie Lee every time she’s been away,” the source explained at the time.
Sitting down exclusively with PEOPLE for this week’s issue, on stands Friday, Bush Hager said she still “can’t believe it.”
“I’m so excited,” she said. “It feels organic and it feels right. It just feels like the right time for me.”
“I’ve been the fill-in, which is a fun position to be because there’s no pressure but you could just have a blast,” she added. “So, to take it to the next level is awe-inducing.”
Her new co-host Kotb called Bush Hager “the perfect fit.”
“Being around Jenna is like being around the most real person,” she said. “She says exactly what she thinks and believes and there’s something about her that makes you do two things: You lean in because you want to know more, and also you kind of weirdly tell her your secrets and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I just blurted all that out!’”
“She has this thing that’s special. I know that people try to have it but I think you’re born with it,” she added. “And Jenna has it and it’s the thing that makes her laugh at herself when she spills coffee on herself. It’s the way that she makes other moms feel good enough because she explains how she’s had the worst day ever and puts it out there.”
Today airs from 7-11 a.m. on NBC.
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