Latest news with #TodaywithHoda&Jenna
USA Today
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Hoda Kotb wants to put herself out there for love: 'You live once'
Hoda Kotb wants to put herself out there for love: 'You live once' Show Caption Hide Caption TV host Hoda Kotb gets real about motherhood, mornings and moving on Veteran TV host and author Hoda Kotb is one of USA TODAY's 2025 Women of the Year. Hoda Kotb hopes her new chapter of life includes a love story. The journalist exited "Today" and "Today with Hoda & Jenna" in January to spend more time with daughters Haley Joy, 8, and Hope Catherine, 6, and pursue her dream of starting a wellness company. And she's still looking for "the real thing" when it comes to a relationship. "I was insatiable in trying to find things that would help or enhance me and make me feel better and make my friends feel better, make everyone feel better," she says. "And I was thinking I couldn't find it in one spot, and no matter where I looked, I was only puzzle piecing it together." So Kotb, 60, launched Joy 101 on May 28. Curated by Kotb, the app offers subscribers programs tailored to their interests and research-backed classes and wellness sessions focused on topics like brain health, breathwork, mindfulness, personal growth and sleep. In her own life, Kotb is looking to improve her ability to show up as her authentic self in a romantic relationship. Kotb previously wed Burzis Kanga in 2005 but filed for divorce in 2007. She shares her daughters with former fiancé Joel Schiffman. Kotb announced they'd called off their engagement in 2022. Hoda Kotb reveals daughter's health condition was a factor in decision to leave 'Today' "I've had wonderful relationships in my life," she says, careful not to dimmish past experiences. "They've been very loving relationships, but I don't think the real thing yet. "I think it's really funny to think at this stage in life, to still be cautious and to try to figure out why trust is so hard,' she says. "If I were advising myself, I would say, 'What the hell do you have to lose? You live once. Go, do it, do it.' And then when it's me, I realize that I've always been cautious there." "If I'm really honest with myself, I think that's another thing that I am really, really, really looking forward to and can clearly visualize," she says of finding love again. "And I hope one day that I actually get to really feel it for real instead of imagining what it would feel like." When making the leap from "Today," Kotb imagined how her life would look, living in the suburbs and being able to me more present with her daughters. The reality is so much better than she anticipated. "I don't think I was really seeing my kids grow," Kotb says. Instead of heading into the studio in the wee hours of the morning, she heads to her office to tend to a few tasks before working out, returning home and showering before her children wake up for school. Hoda Kotb's favorite question is 'tell me more.' Now she shares what's next. "So I get to," she says, emphasizing how much she likes the phrase "get to," "I get to be with them in the morning, I get to be with them at breakfast, I get to walk them to school and like all the good stuff comes out then. "I was playing a game with my daughter last night and in the middle of it she just started, like spilling all of her secrets," Kotb says. "I had all the time in the world, and that's when magic happens."
USA Today
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Hoda Kotb on wellness company Joy 101 and starting over at 60
Hoda Kotb on wellness company Joy 101 and starting over at 60 A week before Hoda Kotb debuts her wellness company, Joy 101, she's in a haze of unrelenting meetings to secure sponsors, experts and more employees. 'It's stuff you don't think about. 'Who's going to do the frequently asked questions?'' Kotb, 60, says. 'All this stuff that goes into websites and apps and events.' Ahead of her company's launch on May 28 she was 'nervous' but 'ready.' 'I'm hopeful, and I'm also proud that we did something,' she says. 'We're not just talking about it. Something's going to be put out into the world. Is it going to be perfect? I doubt it, but it's going to be really good.' Kotb departed her 'Today' anchor chair on Jan. 10, the same day she bid adieu to 'Today with Hoda & Jenna,' culminations of her decades-long NBC career which began in 1998 at 'Dateline.' Craig Melvin replaced Kotb on NBC's morning news program while Jenna Bush Hager has entertained a revolving door of celebrity guests on 'Today with Jenna & Friends.' Kotb revealed in an interview at the start of a wellness weekend she hosted with 'Today' in October that a whisper nudged her to leave her former posts. 'In different forms, it was saying, 'You're an adventurer,'' she said, adding that she also longed for more time with daughters, Haley Joy, 8, and Hope Catherine, 6. 'It was saying, 'What's this next chapter? It was (asking), have you done it all?'' Kotb first mentioned a desire to get into the wellness space when we'd connected in March of 2024 to talk about her children's book, 'Hope is a Rainbow.' 'I am dreaming about one day starting a kind of, sort of wellness, mind, body, spirit movement sort of thing,' she said timidly with a smile. She'd recently began a breath work practice and had an emotional breakthrough in her office the day prior. 'I laid on the ground with a breath works person on Zoom, and I was blubbering, after five minutes,' she said. 'It's just like a release.' TV host Hoda Kotb gets real about motherhood, mornings and moving on Veteran TV host and author Hoda Kotb is one of USA TODAY's 2025 Women of the Year. After the first session daughter Haley noticed a shift and told Kotb, 'You seem different.' Kotb says, 'They were calling me 'Calm Mom' and laughing.' Kotb says she routinely mediates in the morning and again around 2 p.m. before picking her kids up from school in her cherished minivan. She says she's gained perspective and feels more energized. 'I always was one to exercise my stress away, and that works, to a point,' Kotb says. 'But when you wake up again, the next day, there it is again. 'I got to outrun this. If I don't run, all my stress is going to come get me.' You're constantly like on the run from your stress. And then you're realizing, like, 'Well, what is it? Let's try to unload the stress.'' Hoda Kotb's journey to Joy 101: 'You can be a beginner again at 60' An insatiable curiosity about wellness and a desire to share all she's learned motivated Kotb to start Joy 101, which offers an app and events that aim to enhance the lives of its users, with a tailor-made program. Users can preorder the app, which goes live on June 11 and costs $16.99 for a monthly subscription or $99 for the year. 'Everybody seems really tired, and everybody seems like they've got more than they can carry and there's too much on their plate and it's like, 'Not one more thing!'' Kotb says. 'That's what I even found myself (saying), like, 'There's no more room. I'm tapped out. There's not room to pile one more thing on.' This is designed to take things off your plate.' Hoda Kotb returns to host 'Today' with Jenna Bush Hager: What to know On the app, Kotb provides a daily dose of her optimism and wisdom and greets users with a 21-day course, in which she shares life lessons. Kotb has also curated additional research-backed classes and wellness sessions focused on topics like brain health, breath work, mindfulness, personal growth and sleep. Membership includes two livestreams per month with Kotb and her trusted wellness experts. The first occurs on June 11 with Savannah Guthrie and Bush Hager. Users are also given early access to retreats and events, which Kotb says she's really leaning into. During October's regenerative weekend Kotb shared with attendees that before diving into wellness, she 'felt like I was carrying around a heavy backpack for so long and didn't know it.' During her journey, 'the backpack got emptied and I started feeling lighter and better.' At 60, she said, 'I feel better today than I have in decades.' Kotb says the biggest revelation she's realized 'is that you can be a beginner again at 60.' 'It taught me that the learning process is unending, and it showed me that anyone who says they're stuck in their ways is because they're choosing to be stuck in their ways,' Kotb says. 'You can evolve; you can change. You can see the world totally differently. You could try something brand new and risky. You can say goodbye to something that was the safest and most extraordinary career in the world.' Ready to make a change? 'Stop worrying about the odds' Maybe that feels jarring to anyone who fears change or the unknown. Kotb grew up 'in a home of optimism,' as she put it in 2024. 'When I was playing a basketball game, and we were down 5 points with 15 seconds, (my mom) believed that it was possible to win, and therefore I believed.' Hoda Kotb's favorite question is 'tell me more.' Now she shares what's next. Her breast cancer diagnosis in 2007 minimized things that previously felt scary or overwhelming, and she didn't allow rejection or criticism to hijack her hope. 'I was constantly rejected,' she previously said. 'The guys didn't like me; I didn't get the job. It didn't crush me. I didn't feel devastated. I was like, 'Ohh that's how it goes but also something, I think, good will happen.' 'Stop worrying about the odds,' Kotb says. 'Stop worrying about all that stuff, because if you think about the odds, you'll do nothing, ever.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
See Photos of Sheinelle Jones' Family, Including Late Husband Uche Ojeh and Their 3 Kids
Over the course of her 10 years as part of the Today show family, viewers have fallen in love with Sheinelle Jones' bright smile and bubbly personality. Jones first joined the morning show back in 2014 and has been a constant across all of Today's programming, co-hosting 3rd Hour of Today alongside Al Roker, Craig Melvin and Dylan Dreyer, as well as filling in as co-anchor for Today and guest co-hosting Today with Hoda & Jenna (now dubbed Today with Jenna & Friends). Off-camera, the 46-year-old is a doting mother to three children — Kayin, 15 and twins Clara and Uche, 12 — with husband Uche Ojeh, whom she married in 2007. On May 23, Jones' Today co-hosts shared that Ojeh had died after several months of treatment for glioblastoma, a brain cancer. Jones and Ojeh first met at Northwestern University in the '90s when Jones, then a freshman, offered to give Ojeh, a high school senior, a tour of the campus. Eight years later, the couple got engaged on that very campus in the middle of a rainstorm. They tied the knot on Sept. 2, 2007 in Jones' hometown of Philadelphia. They later welcomed their children, son Kayin, and fraternal twins Clara and Uche. Below, see photos of Sheinelle Jones with her family. The couple cleaned up nicely while attending a friend's wedding at the New York Public Library in 2022. The two met at Northwestern University even before he was enrolled as a student; as she recalled, 'I was a fake tour guide ... I was just walking to class. [I was like, 'Are you guys lost?' And] I told him I would take him around because he was cute." Jones and Ojeh (with their two boys) attended a family wedding in Italy in 2019. Jones, Uche and their three kids had a cozy moment in this 2023 selfie around the holidays. "Happy Father's Day! ❤️" Jones simply captioned this sweet photo of Ojeh with their kids. In 2023, she shared a reel honoring all that Ojeh did for their family, from coaching soccer to cheering at recitals to sharing his heritage with the kids. "Always to the beat of your own drum," she wrote on the video. "Happy Father's Day Uche." The Today anchor looked happy next to her husband at Lincoln Center for a concert in June 2022. This 2020 family photo was posted to Jones' account around the holidays. Jones often touts her family's accomplishments on her social media accounts, including this one from 2023 where she celebrated "the Uches" for their big wins, her son for winning a soccer tournament and Dad for completing a triathalon. A new assignment hosting NBC's Wild Child had Jones reminiscing about their honeymoon. "15 years ago today …. we were on our honeymoon, and Uche somehow pulled me away from the beach and before I knew it, I was riding on elephants at sunset and feeding a baby cheetah at an endangered species sanctuary in South Africa…. ☺️," she wrote in 2022. Family time was always a priority for the two, as evidenced by this shot she shared from a one-night trip to celebrate Ojeh's brother's 40th birthday. "I remember going to his high school graduation party when Uche and I were dating! Now, we're all at a dinner table with spouses," she wrote. "Time flies. Family time is the best time, even if it's just for one night." The two were snapped on the Today Show plaza in 2019 looking coordinated in blue and white. Jones and Uche had a fun night out with some of the Today show family while attending the wedding of Al Roker and Debbie Roberts' daughter, Courtney in 2021. A baby baptism made Jones dig into her archives and pull out this gem. "I couldn't let another day go by without noting a beautiful moment with our friends Christina and Dan and their daughter Macy's baptism. ❤️ " she began. "Uche & I looked at Macy and immediately thought of our own kids' baby dedications. Our children all wore native Nigerian wear ... I had the best time looking at these 'outtakes' from those early days! ☺️ Having 3 under 3 was an adventure for sure. ❤️" Jones never missed an opportunity to celebrate her man. "Guess what today is? Apparently it's National Spouse Day. The truth is, our days are busy and if we're not careful - all of our conversation can easily be 'transactional'… about who goes where, and when, etc." she wrote in 2022. "So it's nice to push a pause button and tell the person you love that you appreciate them. — 'You caught my eye when I was 19 years old …. and here we are.'❤️ Happy National Spouse Day! 🥂" On May 23, Jones shared that her husband Uche Ojeh had died following a glioblastoma diagnosis. She had been absent from Today since mid-December, in order to spend time with her family during his illness. TKTKTK ADD? In 2023, she commemorated their happy marriage with a heartfelt series of photos looking back at their early days at Northwestern, raising babies, moving to New York and much more. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jenna Bush Hager Reveals the One Thing Her Son Hal, 5, Asked Her to Stop Doing at Bedtime
Jenna Bush Hager's son isn't always one for dramatics. While speaking with Ben Falcone about his new children's book What's Scarier Than Thunder? on Thursday, March 20, the Today with Jenna and Friends host, 43, opened up about her bedtime reading experience with her son Hal, 5. Bush Hager, who's also a mom to daughters Poppy, 9, and Mila, 11, shared that her little one sometimes dislikes the voices she uses to play the characters in the story. "When I read to my little, he goes, 'Regular regular.' And, I go, 'What do you mean?' And he's like, 'I don't like that voice like, you don't need to perform with everything Mom,' " she shared. "I would do the voices, and he'd say 'Regular regular,' which I'm like, 'Geez.' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Related: Jenna Bush Hager Reveals Her 'Biggest Concern' as a Mom of 3 Recently, the former first daughter, who shares her three children with her husband Henry Hager, opened up about one of the things she's the most concerned about as a mom of three. While speaking with Monica Lewinsky about failure on the Wednesday, Feb. 19 episode of Today with Jenna and Friends, she noted she feels like that's one of the things she's concerned her kids won't be able to learn. Bush Hager shared that she thinks failing helps build her character. "It's actually my biggest concern as a mom is I don't think our kids are allowed to fail," Bush Hager said. "And I failed publicly and it's actually what makes me, I feel like, my superpower." "I feel brave because you can come out of something," she added. "We need to teach kids that they can come out of things." The mom of three has been candid about her journey to motherhood over the years, admitting that "logistics can be difficult" now with three children. However, the proud mom devotes her time to "making sure that each child has the love that I know I feel for them." Overall, expanding her family has brought her more joy than ever. "It's fun," she told PEOPLE after the birth of her third child. "I'm really happy." All parenting challenges aside, Bush Hager would love to have more children. "I'd like to have another baby," she recently said on an episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna. "We're not. Henry put his foot down. He says we have three healthy babies." Read the original article on People
South China Morning Post
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Meet Jenna Bush's partner, Henry Hager, known to the US Secret Service
The 2004 romantic-comedy movie First Daughter is about the life of a US president's daughter and her struggle to lead a normal college life while managing the challenges posed by her security team. The real-life experiences of first daughters may not always be as dramatic, but Jenna Bush, daughter of former president George W. Bush , occasionally found herself in amusing situations with the Secret Service while dating her future husband, Henry C. Hager. So who was the man behind the scenes? Jenna Bush with husband Henry Hager. Photo: @jennabhager/Instagram Henry C. Hager, 46, was born in 1978 in Richmond, Virginia. His father, John H. Hager, was a tobacco company executive; his mother Margaret 'Maggie' Chase held various administrative positions. Raised alongside his brother Jack in Virginia, Henry was pursuing a business administration degree at Wake Forest University, North Carolina, when his father was elected Virginia's lieutenant governor in 1998. After graduating from the private university, Henry began his career as an assistant to Karl Rove, senior advisor to president George W. Bush. He later took on the role of deputy operations manager for the Bush-Dick Cheney presidential campaign of 2004. How did Jenna Bush meet her husband, Henry Hager? Jenna Bush and Henry Hager, who married in 2008. Photo: AP The couple met while working on Bush's re-election. It was during this period that he met Jenna Bush, 43, now a TV host, who had just graduated from the University of Texas before beginning a career as a teacher. In the meantime she was working at her father's re-election headquarters. 'A friend of mine from college was like, his intern at work, and we were going to watch the Texas [football] game, and they were like, 'Can we bring Henry?'' Bush shared on Today with Hoda & Jenna in 2019. Despite his having a girlfriend, according to People, Hager and Bush hit it off and shared a kiss that evening. Their relationship quickly blossomed. 'On Election Day, they were friends. By the [Inauguration], they were an item,' a friend of Hager told People in 2008.
