Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager Unveil Their Celebrity Choice for ‘Golden Bachelorette’

TODAY -- Pictured: Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on Monday, February 26, 2024 -- (Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager believe they have the perfect pick for who should be the first star of The Golden Bachelorette.

The new show is slated to debut this fall on ABC following the wild success of The Golden Bachelor, a spinoff of The Bachelor focusing on senior love interests that premiered in the fall of 2023. Casting for the new spinoff series was in progress as of mid-February, though the network hasn’t yet revealed who will be invited to participate.

Once ABC confirmed plans to air The Golden Bachelorette, Kotb and Hager were quick to share their pick for who the first season should focus on. Speaking with E! News co-host Justin Sylvester on Feb. 12, the Today with Hoda & Jenna co-hosts said they have “already” figured out who the network should pick.

Kotb and Hager revealed their selection together: “Kathie Lee Gifford.”

Kotb said Gifford, with whom she co-hosted Today for 11 years, “would be perfect” for The Golden Bachelorette.

Related: Hoda Kotb Shares Where She Stands With Kathie Lee Gifford 5 Years After 'Today' Exit

Sylvester, who believes some of the women who weren’t selected by Gerry Turner in the final round of The Golden Bachelor could be tapped for the new spinoff series, didn’t seem as sure that Gifford, 70, would want to participate.

“There’s not enough chardonnay in the world to get Kathie Lee there,” Sylvester said.

Kotb, 59, objected, saying, “You never know. She might.” Kotb added that if Gifford was invited to do the show, she “would be a 10-plus.”

Kotb and Hager, 42, later doubled down on their Golden Bachelorette pick while speaking with Entertainment Tonight.

“Kath being on the Golden Bachelorette is a recipe for a home run,” Kotb told ET.

Hager agreed, asking Kotb, “By the way, can’t you imagine her making out in that hot tub?” Kotb confirmed that she thought that scenario could happen “in five seconds.”

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