NEED TO KNOW
Jenna Bush Hager revealed her husband Henry Hager used to call her “Shiny” but now jokingly calls her “Rusty”
The couple admitted to calling each other “Mommy” and “Daddy” at times, which Jenna says has become a problem
Jenna and Henry married in 2008 and share three children, Mila, Poppy, and Hal, while balancing public and private life
Jenna Bush Hager and her husband, Henry Hager, could use some help in the nickname department.
The 44-year-old Today with Jenna & Sheinelle co-host opened up about her husband of 18 years on Tuesday, June 2. During a discussion about her parents former President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush‘s nicknames for one another, Jenna’s co-host Sheinelle Jones asked if Jenna’s husband had a nickname for her.
“Not really. He don’t call me ‘Bushy,’ ” she quipped, referencing her mom’s nickname for her dad. “He don’t call me Bushy!”
Jenna, who married Hager in 2008, said that while her husband used to call her “Shiny,” he has since retired the nickname.
“He don’t call me ‘Shiny’ anymore,” she joked. “Now he calls me ‘Rusty,’ ” adding that the change comes from her being “old.”
Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones discuss nicknames on ‘Today with Jenna & Sheinelle’ on June 2.
Credit: NBC
However, there was an even more egregious nickname that the pair share.
“It’s become a problem and it’s something that we need help with. I know. We call each other ‘Mommy’ and ‘Daddy’ sometimes,” Jenna admitted as her producers groaned in the live studio. “I know. I know that I [have] a problem. I’m telling you.”
Though Jones tried to excuse the nicknames, Jenna insisted that they were a problem.
Henry Hager and Jenna Bush Hager with kids Hal, Mila and Poppy.
Credit: jennabhager/Instagram
“He doesn’t say ‘Mommy,’ but he’ll say, ‘Ask Mom,’ ” Jenna said. “So I’ve started to work on this where I say, ‘I’m not your mom.’ But it doesn’t work.”
The Read with Jenna founder added, “I know we need help! The first help is saying I have a problem. I am telling you and the world, we have a problem. And I’m sure many of you at home….”
Jones agreed, saying, “I think you two are America. I don’t think you’re alone.”
“But let’s please get out of it, America,” Jenna joked. “That’s why my name’s Rusty.”
Jenna Bush Hager and Henry Hager on ‘Today with Jenna & Friends’
Credit: Jenna Bush Hager/Instagram
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Jenna met Hager in 2004 when he was working on her father’s re-election campaign. The couple tied the knot in 2008 on the Bush family’s Texas ranch. They now share children Mila, 13, Poppy, 10, and Hal, 6.
Hager has appeared on the show several times, including a stint where he co-hosted alongside his wife while the show was called Today with Jenna & Friends after Hoda Kotb‘s Jan. 2025 departure.
In July 2025, Jenna said that Hager wasn’t always a fan of her sharing their private lives on TV.
“One of the great things about Henry is he always is thinking that way,” she said of Hager. “He just believes we should have privacy as a family. So if I say something — maybe on this show — that gets pickup, he gets grumpy about it.”
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