Jenna Bush Hager has revealed that her “Today” show colleague Savannah Guthrie is the godmother to her baby son Hal.
The pair are longtime BFFs and next-door neighbors in Tribeca.
Bush Hager told E!’s Jason Kennedy in an Instagram Live chat Wednesday, “I’ve never said this before, but Savannah is Hal’s godmother.” She gave birth to Hal last August, just months after joining Hoda Kotb on “Today’s” 10 a.m. hour and replacing Kathie Lee Gifford.
And Bush Hager, 38, said it was a no-brainer to ask Guthrie, 48, to do the honors, saying: “We go to the same church, our faith is really important to us.”
The mom of three said that after her paternal grandfather, President George H.W. Bush, died in November 2018, Guthrie wrote prayers for her to read at their local church following his state funeral, but she fell apart and Guthrie had to step in as her husband joked, “At least it wasn’t the National Cathedral.”
“That’s what a really beautiful friend does, they step in when you have lost your voice,” she said. “And Hoda is like that to me in so many ways too. To work with somebody like Hoda, who really lifts somebody up, whose kindness and grace is just remarkable … I feel so lucky. You want to surround yourself with people who have good energy and I’m not sure anybody has better, more authentic, more vibrant energy than Hoda.”
Bush Hager, who has been married to Henry Hager since 2008, said her husband had taken time off work to help care for their two daughters and son amid the coronavirus pandemic as she films from home.
Talking about her work-life balance, she called Guthrie and Kotb “two of my very best friends,” adding: “You want to surround yourself with people who have your back.”