Jenna Bush Hager was caught off guard on the Today show on Friday when her co-host Hoda Kotb asked if her husband Henry Hager was her best friend.
The “Today with Hoda & Jenna” stars discussed whether your spouse should also be your closest friend while discussing a recent Wall Street Journal article on the topic.
“Is your husband your best friend?” Kotb, 59, asked Bush Hager, 41, who stuttered briefly before answering the complicated question.
“Uh, I love Henry so much,” she said, laughing. “I love him, but… And I do.” [love him]. Yes, he is one of my best friends. I mean, I adore him and tell him everything. “But I like girlfriends. ‘I love my girlfriends.’
Jenna Bush Hager, 41, was surprised on the Today show on Friday when her co-host Hoda Kotb asked her if her husband Henry Hager was her best friend
The couple married in May 2008 and celebrated their 15th anniversary last spring
Bush Hager and Henry have three children together: Mila (10), Poppy (8) and Hal (4).
Bush Hager has been married to Henry for 15 years and they have three children together: Mila (10), Poppy (8) and Hal (4).
She noted that your spouse is naturally one of your closest confidants because you live together and see each other every day.
“The definition of best friend is so arbitrary,” she said. “Different friends are closer on different days.”
Kotb then wanted to know how often Bush Hager speaks to Henry each day, and she was surprised by the constant communication.
“I already spoke to him today. “He calls in the car on the way to school, checks in. We probably talk or write at least ten times,” estimated the former first daughter.
‘Oh really? Wow. That’s a lot,” Kotb said.
‘Is that too much?’ Bush asked Hager.
‘Yes. “That’s a lot of talking and texting,” Kotb replied, and the audience seemed to agree.
Is your partner your best friend? Hoda and Jenna talk about whether your spouse should be your best friend and how that can vary. pic.twitter.com/aOIFdstRRr
– TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) September 22, 2023
The “Today” co-hosts were discussing whether your spouse should also be your closest friend when Kotb Bush asked Hager if Henry was her best friend
“Uh, I love Henry so much,” she said, laughing. “I love him, but… And I do.” [love him]. Yes, he is one of my best friends… But I like girlfriends. I love my girlfriends
Bush Hager shocked Kotb when she shared that she and Henry talk or text “at least 10 times” a day. “We don’t call ten times,” she clarified. “We text like ‘I miss you, I love you’.”
“We don’t call ten times,” Bush Hager made clear. “We text like, ‘I miss you, I love you.’”
Kotb then changed her mind and admitted that it was “sweet” that they sent each other love texts throughout the day.
Whether Bush Hager writes too much with her husband remains a matter of debate, but both agreed that one should never rely on one person for everything.
“I think it’s hard when you rely on one bucket for all your needs because you’re inevitably going to be disappointed,” Kotb said. “Because no one can stand being the spouse, the partner, the best friend. I think it’s too much for any person.”
The “Today” co-hosts also discussed why it appears that women have “deeper friendships” outside of their marriage compared to men.
They pointed to a 2017 study that found 64 percent of married men considered their wives their best friends, but only 48 percent of women felt the same.
“That just occurred to me,” Bush Hager said. “It’s generally harder for men to maintain their really good friendships.”
Kotb recalled the many times she asked men what they talked about with their friends, but she never got a clear answer.
“They say, ‘Sports? I have no idea?’” she said.
Bush Hager shared that she gets similar answers from her own husband when she asks about his conversations with friends.
“Friends get divorced and I’m like, ‘Did he say why?’ And he’s like, ‘We haven’t talked about it,'” she explained. “I’m like, ‘You haven’t talked about the whole reason you met him?’