Will Jenna Bush Hager's dad, former president George W. Bush, co-host 'Jenna and Friends'? The 'TODAY' host and her twin sister Barbara Pierce Bush sit down with Parade to discuss their latest children's book, 'I Loved You First.'
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00:00So your new book, very excited, third one in the series, you dedicated it to your parents.
00:09Did they read it?
00:10What were their thoughts on it?
00:11Well, we dedicated it to our parents and also to our kids because I think what we've realized
00:16after becoming moms ourselves is how dedicated our parents were to like creating a magical
00:24childhood for us and also just being with us, being present, being part of our lives.
00:30And then we've seen the beauty of seeing the world through our kids' eyes over the last
00:36now, 12 years for me.
00:39I don't...
00:40Mom and dad...
00:41Mom definitely read it.
00:42Mom read it and thought it was sweet.
00:43Yes.
00:44And we, there's, our illustrator is beautiful and she did beautiful illustrations of different
00:48scenes in nature, which is an honor of our mom.
00:51Her mom, her mom, Jenna Welch, was a naturalist and loved nature and taught her and then she
00:56therefore taught us to love nature.
00:59And so the illustrations are also very much in honor of her and she loved them.
01:02So inspiring.
01:03I know your dad was a painter.
01:04Did he have any opinions on it?
01:06I mean, we, our dream is to do something with him at some point.
01:09Yes.
01:10We would love for him to be our illustrator, but we're still working on it.
01:15It may take some time.
01:16We'll discuss it in the future.
01:19Maybe when we see him over our book tour.
01:22So you said Mila is just about 12.
01:24Did she offer her opinion on this book?
01:26She didn't, but I mean, we sort of, this is kind of for the younger reader.
01:32She's fully reading like The Summer I Turned Pretty and Twilight and other such reads.
01:39But Hal was very insistent that there was a picture of baby Edward in it.
01:45He was like, cause he sort of feels like each book is for a different child.
01:49He was like, that book was for me.
01:51The last book was for me.
01:53And so he's like, this book is for baby Edward.
01:55And I was like, well, yes.
01:57And all the readers, but Hal has, and I said to Hal, well, we may retire, this may be our
02:01last book.
02:02And he goes, what?
02:03I like it.
02:04I really am a fan of your children's books.
02:07So at least one person is into it.
02:09Does Hal feel like a big brother now that he has a little cousin?
02:12Yes.
02:13But, and I have a three-year-old daughter, Cora Georgia, who loves Hal Hager and everything
02:18that he does, she thinks is the funniest thing she's ever seen.
02:21So I think he feels like a big brother and like he has his true, he found his true fan.
02:27Did you ever think of having them on the show for Janet and Friends, a little co-hosting?
02:31Hila wanted to co-host.
02:32Oh, she did?
02:33Yeah, she wanted to co-host, but she's had at least a yearly ban for her last appearance,
02:38which was inappropriate.
02:41She spilled his family secret.
02:45She never wears underwear.
02:48Therefore, but she's still like, can I please come on and co-host with dad?
02:52Like she still asks.
02:53Henry's thought is she's in sixth grade.
02:56She should be at school.
02:57She shouldn't be missing sixth grade to come and co-host.
03:00But maybe when we're towards the very end, summer, this summer, yeah, when she's not
03:06in school.
03:07Good thinking.
03:08What was the hardest part about joining your sister for co-hosting?
03:11I know family business, it's not always the easiest.
03:14Well, I am very private and co-hosting is inherently not private, but I obviously love
03:21getting to see Jenna in her elements and meet her team and, and see how much they love her.
03:27And so it's also really fun for me to get to do it.
03:30She's also so good at it.
03:31For somebody that never does it and doesn't even own a television, she's quite excellent.
03:35You don't own a television?
03:37She owns a television, but I'm just not a TV watcher.
03:40You stream some stuff here and there.
03:43Well, I overheard you kind of had your pick of who you think has done the best on the show.
03:48I think they've all been amazing.
03:50I loved Eva Longoria, Ciara, all the Saturday Night Live people, all the country people.
03:56I mean, it's been amazing.
03:57Of course, I fell in love with Scarlett Johansson and Dwayne Wade.
04:00That's like a different thing, you know, but they all have all been so fun.
04:05Yeah, so did the internet, I will say that.
04:08They love Scar Jo.
04:09They want her back.
04:10They actually liked everybody.
04:12It's a bit of a tough pick, but they also want to see your parents.
04:14Who's here to help?
04:15We heard that.
04:16We heard that.
04:17Would you want that?
04:18She's working on it.
04:19Yeah, of course.
04:20I mean, we have to really, I was like, we need to program a show so he thinks he's not
04:24doing men's style.
04:26We are a beauty segment.
04:27He's a former president, so I feel like we have to get something that fits his interests.
04:35But yeah, maybe for Father's Day.
04:36We're just going to throw that into the universe that we don't know because he hasn't accepted.
04:42If you could ask anyone knowing that their answer would be yes, who would it be?
04:46Oprah.
04:47Oprah?
04:48Who would you ask?
04:49Well, Oprah.
04:50Or I think Celine Dion or a throwback classic like that could be ready.
04:54That's a great idea.
04:55Celine.
04:56An icon.
04:57An icon.
04:58Oh, we should just do icon week?
04:59Yeah.
05:00Perfect.
05:01Celine.
05:02Oprah.
05:03Yeah.
05:04The list will grow.
05:05It will.
05:06I know Travis Kelsey has kind of said he wants to transition to onscreen work when he's done
05:08with his NFL career.
05:10Has he been in the run for consideration for guest hosting?
05:14Not that I know of, although I'm not in the no on every single person, but that'd be a
05:20good one.
05:21Travis Kelsey.
05:22Yeah.
05:23I like it.
05:24We have some really cool ones coming up.
05:25I can't say who, but we are booked through the spring and we have some really fun ones.
05:29I'll tell you tomorrow.
05:31Some unexpected ones too.
05:33Can't wait.
05:34Have you stayed in contact with Hoda?
05:35What does she think of your segment?
05:37I talk to Hoda all the time.
05:40She's just the most supportive always and totally optimistic and she'll definitely text
05:46in her favorites.
05:47I know you had said eighth grade with social media is when you would consider letting your
05:51kids.
05:52No, eighth grade is when they get a phone.
05:54Social media is like 16.
05:55Okay.
05:56I was going to say, Mula's getting there.
05:58Is she pushing for it?
05:59I know TikTok's like everything.
06:00No, she's really not.
06:01I mean, I think boundaries are super helpful in explaining sort of why we're doing things
06:07differently.
06:08Almost every friend in her friend group does have one, but her best friends from across
06:14her life, many of them's parents are also waiting, so it's kind of a good thing.
06:19She's not the only one, but no, I mean, I think it's a conversation for sure.
06:24I don't want it to be such a hard no that there's an obsession with it when it happens,
06:29so we're just trying to figure it out, but no, she's still phoneless.
06:33Pretty good on your part.
06:34I mean, I was 12 years old and this was before phones were a thing.
06:37I was begging my parents for this, so I can't even imagine, but...
06:40Well, there's so much more information now than when you were 12, and so I can say to
06:46her like, show me a piece of information where you can say that phones are good for your
06:50brain and we'll discuss, which does not come up.
06:54Your youngest is going to be turning one at the end of August or sometime in August.
06:58Do you have any big plans?
06:59Is there anything fun going on over the summer?
07:01Well, my three-year-old is in school, so that's been a big transition for her to be a big
07:06sister and have a baby brother, and our life is very centered around them right now, so
07:12we'll have a birthday for him, but I think it'll be more about her showering, her choosing
07:17what her little brother, what his birthday is like, just because his memory won't necessarily
07:23remember it.
07:24And by the way, Mila did that for Poppy, and it was Poppy's flamingo first.
07:28Cute.
07:29I remember that.
07:30So you never know what the vibe is going to be.
07:31It'll be a theme like that chosen by his big sister.
07:33Yeah.