‘Today’s Jenna Bush Hager Brags About Her Matchmaking Skills, But Promises She’ll Wait Until Her Kids “Get Out Of Middle School” To Set Them Up

Jenna Bush Hager wears many hats in her day-to-day life — Mom, Today show host, educator — but she’s recently earned one new title: Matchmaker.

Bush Hager has been using her matchmaking skills to find a suitable partner for her co-host and good friend, Hoda Kotb. But when Kotb revealed that her own mother used to try and set her up with suitors when she was younger, Bush Hager may have gotten a glimpse into her own future with her three kids.

“My mom, when we were younger, was always setting us up. It was hilarious… She met someone on a train [and says] ‘I found him! Here’s his number, you can call him if you want,'” Kotb recalled. “She got the digits!”

When Bush Hager asked if she did end up calling that stranger, Kotb replied, “I did call him! But also she went through all the trouble to get a phone number from a stranger on a train… And if he’s nice to my mom, you’re like, well…”

Bush Hager told her co-host that the story made her feel “afraid” about what she is going to be like when her kids — Mila, 11, Poppy. 9, and Hal, 3 — finally grow up.

“I’m really afraid when I hear all this because you’re right, nobody really wants your mom to be like, ‘Hey, hey, hey Mila! See him?’ But that’s all I do, I love to set people up,” she admitted.

Kotb may have some faith in her co-host’s matchmaking skills, but she doubted her kids would. “No, you don’t want to set up your kids. They will reject all of your set-ups. You know they will, don’t you think?” she replied.

But Bush Hager appeared confident. “I think I’m really good at it,” she said. She then added that she’s already trying to set someone up “this morning,” though she wouldn’t reveal who.

“My point is yes, I like think about that stuff. So won’t I do that to my children?” she asked Kotb, before adding with a laugh, “I’m gonna wait until they get out of middle school, I’m gonna wait until they get out of elementary school.”

Kotb actually revealed during an episode in March 2024 that her co-host set her up on a blind date with a stranger, though she didn’t share any details from the date.

“Jenna set it up, even though she’s never met the guy,” Kotb said on the show. “Jenna’s never met him, but it was through a friend of her’s who had met him… And I walked into the restaurant and there he was! Blind date.”

The Today host has been an open book when it comes to her love life as a single mom. She recently revealed during an interview that she had to stop seeing a man she was dating after three dates.

“I did go on the third date, but I did kind of decide in that space — because this person who’s a lovely human being has a lot of … things that are being worked out — that I think I’m looking for more … simplicity,” she said about the mystery man.

Today with Hoda & Jenna airs on weekdays at 10/9c on NBC.