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Jenna Bush Hager © Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via G

Jenna Bush Hager talks 'fake friends' in frank insight into life today

The TODAY anchor had a candid conversation with guest co-host Tyra Banks

Beatriz Colon
Beatriz Colon - New York
New York WriterNew York
April 16, 2025
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Jenna Bush Hager is reflecting on some of the changes that come with growing up.

Among them she said are leaving behind "fake friends," and having an inner circle of close ones that becomes smaller over time.

The TODAY anchor has been married to husband Henry Hager since 2008, and the couple, who live in Connecticut, share three kids, daughters Mila, 11, and Poppy, nine, and son Hal, five. Scroll to the end for a video on Jenna's famous family.

jenna bush hager and henry hager holding coffee cups on today with jenna and friends© NBC
Jenna's husband Henry was recently her guest co-anchor

Speaking with Tyra Banks — the current guest host on TODAY with Jenna & Friends — on the Wednesday, April 16 installment of the show, Jenna shouted out Hilary Swank's recent feature on Women's Health, and what she said about letting go of fake friends.

"She has outgrown fake friends, she says, 'I just don't have time for falsehood,'" Jenna first shared, and then noted: "Which is interesting, I do think that as you age, some of the things that felt good when you were younger don't feel good."

Tyra herself added: "Totally. I used to have so many friends, and now I have two close friends. I bet they're watching like, 'Am I one of those?'"

Jenna Bush Hager carrying her son and posing with daughters and husband at a football game© Instagram
The TODAY host with her three kids

"Are you still buddies with the 90s supermodels?" Jenna then wondered, to which the America's Next Top Model host revealed: "I never was!"

Speaking of the start of her career in modeling, she recalled: "I was looking at them like, "Oh my god Linda Evangelista! Oh my god Christy Turlington!'" and noted: "I was a little bit younger, so I used to look up to them like, 'Woah.'"

Jenna Bush Hager with former Today co-host Hoda Kotb © Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty I
Jenna is also very close to her former co-host Hoda Kotb

She also reflected on her friendship with fellow supermodel Kate Moss, who she said was of her age but had different social circles at the height of her careers, and she always looked up to her.

Photo shared by Jenna Bush Hager from attending a White House Christmas party, featuring her daughter Mila, colleague Savannah Guthrie, and her daughter Vale© Instagram
The bestselling author is good friends with Savannah Guthrie as well

Tyra went on to share a recent moment between the two at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, where they were both models, and Kate excitedly greeted Tyra with a big smile as soon as she saw her. "My little 'unpopular girl in the cafeteria self' was like, 'Kate Moss is saying hi to me!' It was a weird thing because she was cool back then and I wasn't. I was a supermodel, but not in the clique," she said.

Recommended videoYou may also likeWATCH: Jenna Bush Hager's Famous Family

The two then tied back to Hilary's comments on falsehoods, as Tyra noted that the modeling world often felt fake and "like Halloween," and she didn't want to pretend. 

In her Women's Health feature, Hilary spoke on not having time for half-hearted connections, emphasizing: "I just don't have time for falsehood in any way," and that "a lot of people don't like to be completely honest with people because they're afraid of either hurting someone's feelings or they're afraid of confrontation. The relationships that are important to me are the ones that are willing to be honest and real."

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