The reinvented version of the show’s fourth hour premieres Jan. 13.
TODAY Show fans will undoubtedly endure a bout of mourning when Hoda Kotb officially leaves the show this week, but there’s reason to celebrate, too: We just got an exciting update about what’s happening with the show’s fourth hour after her departure.
Kotb will officially say goodbye to the iconic morning show (and the 3 a.m. wake-up calls that come with it) on Jan. 10. We already knew that Craig Melvin is replacing her as co-anchor for the show’s newsy, crack-of-dawn kickoff, alongside Savannah Guthrie. But there have been plenty of questions about what would happen to the sillier and more upbeat hour that Kotb hosts with Jenna Bush Hager. The answer? It will become TODAY with Jenna & Friends.
Starting Monday, Jan. 13, Bush Hager will welcome a rotating group of guest hosts to take over the vacant chair next to her. It’s clear that TODAY wanted to bring in some serious star power to make up for the loss of a personality as beloved as Kotb.
Bush Hager will kick things off with what she calls “a month of wonder women.” First up is Taraji P. Henson, who will co-host on Jan. 13, followed by Eva Longoria on Jan. 14, Keke Palmer on Jan. 15, and Michelle Buteau on Jan. 16. To close out that first week, Henson will return for co-hosting duties on Friday, Jan. 17.
And it only gets better from there: Starting Monday, Jan. 21, Oscar-nominated actress Scarlett Johansson will join the table.
“It’s just a wild dream,” Hager said of Johansson as her co-host. “The fact that she’s coming to give us a week of her time — she could be doing anything — is a testament to the show that we have built. So I am beyond thrilled. I cannot wait. We’ve never seen Scarlett Johansson host a daytime show before!”
Kotb told Bush Hager that these guest hosts — and whoever else takes over the chair in the coming months — are “very lucky and privileged” to sit next to her.
“You have a way — I watch how you talk at parties and your circle of friends, and I remember your 40th birthday. The circle of friends around you is a testament to you,” Kotb said. “It’s about why people gravitate toward you. It’s about why, when I walk out on the plaza, there are ‘Jenna’ signs all over. Why is that? It’s because you have a way of attracting people into your world.”
Bush Hager added that she thinks the rotating guest-host model is the perfect way to figure out who might be the right permanent fit — which will be especially difficult given her deep bond with Kotb.
“When you have magic, which we have had — we have had a beautiful ride, and it’s not me or you, it’s this incredible chemistry that we’ve had. And I love it, and I’m going to miss you,” Bush Hager said. “But when you’ve had something like this, we just felt like: You know what? I can’t fall right in love again.”
