Jenna Bush Hager ‘Felt Like’ She Was ‘Acting’ After NBC Discouraged Her From Saying ‘Y’all’

Jenna Bush Hager admitted that finding her footing when she first joined NBC was harder than she thought.

The former first daughter said that she was practically banned from saying the word “y’all” while on air.

“[They were like], ‘Hey, y’all,’ isn’t for the whole country,’” she claimed during an episode of the talk show on Monday, December 2. “And I was like, ‘Well, but it’s who I am.’ It’s so weird, and this happens in life too. If you have friends and then, all of a sudden, you’re acting not who you are, and you’re like, ‘Wait,’ something in your gut feels wrong.”

“When they said, ‘You can’t say y’all,’ in my gut, I was like, ‘But why? We have to pretend to be news people?’” the Texas native shared. “Because whenever you pretend to be a news person, I felt like I was acting. And we all know from [our Titanic Halloween skit], I’m not a great actor. When you try to pretend you’re somebody else, it feels crazy.”

Hoda Kotb talked about how people should not have to change in order to fit a certain ideal mold at a job.

“If you don’t fit, they want you to wear something a certain way, cut your hair a certain way, speak a certain way,” she said, telling Jenna, 43, “I know when you came to the network, too, it’s like, ‘Welcome in, but you have to change.’”

Hoda said that she realized it could make something feel like they are “losing who you are.” And the longtime broadcaster admitted it took “a long time” for her to adjust to being in her role in the broadcasting world.

“It took me longer than, I think, it took you,” Hoda told Jenna of dealing with all of the pressure.

Despite this, Jenna has certainly proven herself at NBC. When Hoda leaves Today in January 2025, the show’s fourth hour will be renamed Today With Jenna & Friends. She will welcome a rotating panel of guest cohosts on the show as she searches for a permanent replacement for Hoda.

“They want Jenna to stick around long term and to have a cohost that she enjoys working with, so they’re going to give her a lot of say in who they hire,” an insider told Closer in November “But of course, the most important thing is going to be pleasing the viewers, that’s why they’ve opted to start off by testing out different cohosts for her. They want to see the chemistry and the ratings, that’s going to really be the deciding factor.”

It appears some frontrunners have emerged already as the show prepares for the big transition.

“Willie Geist is a name that keeps getting mentioned, he and Jenna get along great, he has a proven track record and the fans seem to love him,” the source said. “Michelle Buteau is another person that the bosses are very keen on giving a chance to and the word is she’ll be getting a chance to cohost and show her stuff, as well as Justin Sylvester and Michelle Collins.”