What To Know
- Jenna Bush Hager recalled the time she mistook a kind gesture from her husband, Henry Hager, as a proposal.
- The Today host and her husband have been married since 2008 and have three kids together.
- Bush Hager recently admitted she felt “guilty” about how her family celebrated Father’s Day.
Jenna Bush Hager shared one of the funniest stories from the early days of her relationship with her husband, Henry Hager.
During the Tuesday, June 23, episode of Today With Jenna and Sheinelle, Bush Hager said she thinks the key to designing a good guest bathroom is to “put something funny on the wall.” She went on a trip down memory lane while sharing what she and her husband used to decorate their own guest bathroom.
“In our powder room, I have this article,” she told Sheinelle Jones. “When Henry and I were dating, we went out to this restaurant in Washington, D.C. And unfortunately, somebody sitting next to me sold this. They told the story, which was accurate, to The Washington Post.”
The article, published in August 2007, was titled “Jenna and Henry: Now They’re Really, Really Official.” In the article, a source shared information about a 2006 date the couple went on at the restaurant Asia Nora.
“They used to send out fortune cookies, and you could write your fortune for your girlfriend or whoever. And so, he was gonna do that,” Bush Hager explained. “And unfortunately, it didn’t get in in time, so they just sent two champagne glasses, and Hank is not a champagne guy. And on the thing was the fortune, which they also misunderstood.”
Courtesy of Jenna Bush Hager/Instagram
Bush Hager noted that at the time, she was planning to move to Panama to work for UNICEF, and had told Hager that if he wanted her to stay, he would have to propose. “[His fortune cookie message] said, ‘Don’t go. Stay.’ And so, I looked up, and I was like, ‘Yes! Yes!’” she quipped. “And he was like, ‘No, I’m not asking you.’ And I was like, ‘I will marry you!’”
On Jenna & Sheinelle, the show went on to show a screenshot from the article, which read, “‘I thought you were proposing!’ she hollered loud enough for everyone to hear. ‘I nearly [soiled] my pants!’”
Bush Hager joked that “soiled” was not the actual word she used in the moment, stating, “No wonder he wasn’t proposing. I needed to become a lady first. So, I hung that article from back in the day with the picture of us right there.”
Jones enjoyed Bush Hager’s funny relationship story. “This is why we love you, ’cause that is awesome,” she told her co-host.
Bush Hager and her husband met in 2004 while Hager was working on her father George W. Bush‘s presidential reelection campaign. They tied the knot in 2008 and went on to welcome their three kids — Mila, Poppy, and Hal.
On the Monday, June 22, episode of Jenna & Sheinelle, Bush Hager said she felt bad that her family did “nothing” for Father’s Day the day prior. “I feel a little guilty, although he said it was perfect,” she shared. “Henry laid on the couch and watched the U.S. Open, and he just wanted the kids to watch it with him.”
Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, Weekdays, 10 am, NBC