Jenna Bush Hager reveals the A-lister she tried to set up with TODAY co-star Hoda Kotb
While we often hope that a setup by a friend will lead to a happily ever after, it doesn't always work out that way.
This was the case for former co-stars and best friends
Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotb
. The two have grown a close bond over the years and not just on-screen. In their
personal life
, Hager, 43, admits she has often tried to play matchmaker for her former TODAY co-star, but things didn't quite go as expected.
Kotb, 60, had fronted the program since 2018 before
quitting in 2025
and has been largely single since her split from fiancé Joel Schiffman in 2021. The two were together for eight years and were engaged in 2019 but never married.
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They share two daughters, Haley, eight, and Hope, five. Prior to Schiffman, the mom-of-two was married to Burzis Kanga, a former college tennis coach, from 2005 to 2008.
Hoda left the news channel after a terrific 26 years
(Image: AP)
Hoping her pal can find love again, Jenna revealed on the Friday, April 18 installment of TODAY with
Jenna & Friends
that she had tried to set Hoda up with Lenny Kravitz, sharing the news with guest co-host Tyra Banks and viewers.
"There was a period where I was trying to set Hoda up with him, because she — like every other woman in the world — finds him irresistible," she said. The 60-year-old music star appeared was the show back in September of last year, the time Jenna tried to get the two them both together.
Jenna couldn't help but laugh as she reminisced about the time, adding: "He was wearing like a mesh top and leather pants, and I was, like, trying to set them up.' However, her matchmaking attempt failed.
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US singer, musician and songwriter Lenny Kravitz
(Image: Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima)
Back in September Hoda revealed to her fans that she would be stepping down her her role on TODAY after 26-years career at
NBC News
.
At a pivotal moment in her life, she decided it was time for a change. Appearing visibly emotional, Jenna supported Hoda on her last day in the studio. During her final show earlier this year, the veteran newsreader said, 'I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,'
'Obviously I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have,' she added. 'I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.
In her career, Hoda also served as a correspondent for the television news magazine program Dateline NBC.
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