Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager Tearfully Celebrate 5 Years of “Today with Hoda and Jenna”: 'We Love Each Other'

The co-hosts marked the milestone by reminiscing about their time on the NBC daytime show and gushing about their friendship

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager were wiping back tears as they celebrated the fifth anniversary of Today with Hoda and Kotb.

The friends and co-hosts kicked off the fourth hour of Today on Monday, April 8 by reminiscing over their past half-decade together — and how their bond has grown.

"It feels like it was yesterday, and it feels so profound," Bush Hager, 42, said. "To get to sit next to somebody that exudes joy, no matter what you have going on. You greet me with a smile every single day, and I know it's not always easy. In fact, it's probably not easy at all."

"We started off as colleagues/friends. We didn't really know each other. Over the five years, [we've developed] such a deep understanding of the other's soul and purpose. We have traveled down these roads together," said Kotb, 59.

Related: Hoda Kotb Removes Food from Jenna Bush Hager’s Teeth That Was Stuck There Since Yesterday: ‘What a Friend’

"A lot of times, friendships don't grow — not ours. Ours is every day, it's something different, something new, something we're learning," Kotb continued. "You've led me down a path, because of people you knew in your life and people who are healers, who've helped heal me. It's all meant to be. This is all meant to be!"

They both tearfully talked about how lucky they were to be a part of a friendship unit. "We say 'we' for everything. I'll tell mom friends, 'We're waiting 'til 8th grade for phones.' They're like, 'You and Henry?' I'm like, 'No, Hoda and me,' " joked Bush Hager. "But to have a 'we' is so profound at this stage in life. Everybody looks for a partner that will grow with them, and here we are."

A clip package aired later in the show that captured highlights from the past five years, as well as interviews with Kotb and Bush Hager speaking about their working relationship.

"We love each other. We are really good friends and so it makes work easy and natural and fun because I adore who I am next to," Bush Hager said. "I want Hoda to know that sitting next to her every single day for the last 5 years has been the best, best privilege."

"Jenna has become my closest friend in adulthood that I didn't know I needed," said Kotb. "You can't have a real friendship, a real relationships, unless you trust them to catch you when you fall. I know for a fact if I step in it, which I do now and again, she'll catch me. And she knows for a fact if she steps in it and says something crazy, which she will tomorrow, I'll catch her."

Related: Hoda Kotb's Daughters Are Mom's Biggest Fans as They Twin in Matching Today T-Shirts: 'Represent'

The video highlighted how much Kotb and Bush Hager's personal lives have changed since Today with Hoda and Jenna launched.

Kotb went on maternity leave a week after her first show with Bush Hager, and adopted her second child, Hope Catherine, who turns 5 this month (she's also mom to daughter Haley Joy, 7). Meanwhile, Bush Hager — already a mom to daughters Mila, now 10, and Poppy, now 8, with husband Henry Chase Hager — welcomed son Hal in August 2019.

"Our families are growing together and our lives are evolving together," remarked Bush Hager.

Speaking of Hal, he made his first-ever appearance on Today with Hoda and Jenna on Monday's show.

"We've been waiting for you for 5 years to come on. Because you were in your mommy's tummy and now you're almost 5 years old," Kotb told Hal. "You're going to be a big boy!"

Related: Jenna Bush Hager Says Son Hal, 4½, Is Finally Sleeping in His 'Big Boy Bed': ‘He Was Scared’

Hal was a little shy, burying his head in his mom's chest. "He's looking at himself," Bush Hager said of her son, who dismissed questions of what his mom did for a living and wouldn't pick between qhich show he liked better: Today with Hoda and Jenna or Bluey.

There were other surprises throughout the show, including a video shout-out from Meghan Trainor, who debuted a new song she wrote in honor of the duo.

Saturday Night Live's Chloe Fineman stopped by as well to gift the duo with a proclamation from New York City Mayor Eric Adams, marking April 8, 2024 as "Hoda and Jenna Day."

Later on Monday, Kotb and Bush Hager will light the Empire State Building in their NBC daytime show's signature colors, pink and purple.

"I see Hoda and I sitting right there together for the next five years, growing together, learning together, doing more wild and fun things for the very first time together," said Bush Hager.

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And while the two Today hosts celebrated each other, they made sure to give love to the people behind the scenes who make the series happen every day. "Happy anniversary too, to those incredible people back there who greet us with smiles, who put on an incredible show," said Bush Hager. "We love the people that work for the show so, so much."

Today with Hoda and Jenna airs weekdays at 10 a.m. ET on NBC.

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