Key Points<\/h2>\n\n- Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones co-host Today\u2019s fourth hour, emphasizing warmth and relatability.<\/li>\n
- Both highlight openness, humor, and self-motivation as keys to personal and professional success.<\/li>\n
- They balance busy TV careers with parenting, supporting each other through highs and lows.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
It\u2019s a well-known fact that morning<\/a> TV anchors are imbued with an appealing sense of warmth and relatability. The true test of character? How they behave in the afternoon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nCut to 12:48 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon in January<\/a>, when Jenna Bush<\/strong> Hager<\/strong> and Sheinelle Jones<\/strong> stride into their Today show set for their exclusive Parade cover story interview. Both arrived at Rockefeller Center around dawn, went live for the fourth hour of Today at 10 a.m. sharp (where they talked to Gabrielle Union<\/a><\/strong> and Sarah Jessica Parker<\/a><\/strong>) and then recorded a second installment to air on Friday<\/a>. And yet their energy level is somehow still at a 10. Heck, the two are so chatty that they veer into a fun, off-the-record conversation before the first official question.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m not gassed,\u201d Bush Hager\u2014who left her suburban home at 4:45 a.m.\u2014says matter-of-factly. \u201cI always get up in the middle of the night. Yeah, we\u2019re excited.\u201d Echoes Jones, \u201cNone of this is lost on me! This is a gift.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two are also riding an adrenaline high: Just two days earlier, Today with Jenna & Sheinelle ushered in a new era of the venerable morning show. Originally started by Hoda Kotb<\/a> and Kathie Lee Gifford in 2008, the fourth hour of Today has evolved into a light-hearted and occasionally boozy balm to the hard news. \u201cPeople are coming to us to take the heavy backpacks off,\u201d Bush Hager says. \u201cWe want you to sit and laugh and feel good and comforted and hopefully feel like you\u2019re with friends.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nWhile Bush Hager, 44, has been at it since 2019, she\u2019s co-hosted with a revolving group of guests since Kotb\u2019s departure in January 2025. Jones, 47, got the nod in December<\/a>. Says Bush Hager, \u201cIt\u2019s not a new face, and that feels really grounding and really exciting because we get to build something new.\u201d Jones\u2019 take: \u201cI think people thought it was a long time coming but it was not like that at all. Listen, Jenna had like 60 co-hosts and I was watching them, too! Each brought something special to the table.\u201d<\/p>\nJones does, too. The Wichita, Kansas-reared journalist worked her way up the old-fashioned way: After graduating from Northwestern University in 2000, she reported in various local markets and landed at NBC<\/a> News in 2014. As an anchor of Weekend Today and 3rd<\/sup> Hour of Today, she shared her personal life<\/a> with viewers\u2014including the heartbreak of losing her husband of 17 years, Uche Ojeh<\/strong>, to glioblastoma in May 2025. Jones is now adjusting to life as a family<\/a> of four with son<\/a> Kayin, 16, and 13-year-old fraternal twins Clara and Uche Jr. \u201cI\u2019ve had to learn to be as present as I can in the moment,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\nBush Hager\u2019s road to TV went through the White House<\/a>. The daughter of President George W. Bush<\/strong> (and granddaughter of 41st<\/sup> President George Bush<\/strong>), she was a freshman at the University of Texas when her dad was elected into office. In 2009, she was hired as an education<\/a> correspondent for NBC News and her extroverted personality soon shined through the screen. \u201cI wasn\u2019t like \u2018Let me come host a show,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cIt was nowhere near the realm of possibility.\u201d She wed businessman Henry Hager<\/strong> in 2009, and the pair have three children: Mila, 12, Poppy, 10 and Hal, 6.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Jenna](\"https:\/\/parade.com\/.image\/w_3840,q_auto:good,c_limit\/ODowMDAwMDAwMDAxNTI3Mjk0\/today-final-cover-1527294.png?arena_f_auto\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Source: Marc J. Franklin\/NBC\/Today<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span><\/p>\nBefore clocking out for the day, Bush Hager and Jones sat down with Parade to share all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Parade<\/strong>: Sheinelle, when did this all really hit you?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nSheinelle Jones: <\/strong>That very first millisecond when I first walked out, I saw my name on the desk. \u201cSheinelle\u201d is not a typical name. The teacher<\/a> couldn\u2019t pronounce it on the first day of school. I had to always explain that my mom\u2019s name is Sheila, my dad\u2019s name is Darnell. To put that all aside and see my name on a table at the network was \u2026 it\u2019s surreal even now.<\/p>\nJenna Bush Hager: <\/strong>I\u2019ve been doing this show for seven years, and I still remember that first-day feeling. The night before, I told my husband, \u201cYou\u2019re going to have to tranquilize me. I\u2019m so excited.\u201d Both sets of my grandparents<\/a> loved Today\u2014they loved Willard Scott<\/strong> and Al Roker<\/a><\/strong>. The fact that we get to work here is, like \u2026 we never take it for granted.\u00a0<\/p>\nRelated: Jenna Bush Hager Shares Surprising Wedding Revelation on \u2018Today\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nWas the <\/strong>Today<\/strong> show on in the White House?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nBush Hager<\/strong>: It was on in the White House. It sure was.\u00a0<\/p>\nWhat kind of personality do you need to host the fourth hour of <\/strong>Today?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> There has to be a level of openness. And it\u2019s a quick pace. Things change really quickly. I mean, it\u2019s a variety show. I think humor is very helpful. And there has to be a level of openness, which Sheinelle has in spades. She has a beautiful, open heart.\u00a0<\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> I am willing to learn and challenge myself. And how can we make this show great? If this is the next guest, what would I want to ask them? I love that I still love it. I love that I still care.\u00a0<\/p>\nWhat do you remember about meeting each other for the first time?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> I immediately loved her. You know, she\u2019s from Kansas, I\u2019m from Texas. We had a lot in common.\u00a0<\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> She seemed like a good time, but also smart. She checked all the boxes. I remember calling my mom, and being like, \u201cMom, she\u2019s just so\u2026<\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> Are you saying the word \u201cnormal\u201d?<\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> Not \u201cnormal\u201d because what is normal?\u00a0<\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> People do say I\u2019m normal. Like, \u201cHow are you so normal?\u201d I think it\u2019s a compliment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> But I actually think you\u2019re better than normal. You\u2019ve taken that part of your life and then you\u2019ve taken what we call \u201cnormal,\u201d and you\u2019ve made it a superpower. So you have the swag of something that no one can take from you, but then you\u2019ve got the heart of something that a lot of people can\u2019t muster. She can drop something like \u201cYeah, we watched Today in the White House.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> Yeah, well, she asked!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> But no one can touch it. Yeah, that\u2019s a badge. So wear it. I feel honored that she gave me the red rose.<\/p>\nBush Hager<\/strong>: In the hot tub.\u00a0<\/p>\nJenna, do people expect you to be a certain way because of your background?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> I have no idea! I don\u2019t really care, you know? I mean, I was 18 years old when my dad was President. I\u2019m 44 now. What that does is it creates a really thick skin. So the truth is, I can only be myself and not really worry what other people expect.\u00a0<\/p>\nYou two took very different paths to get here. Why did you want to be on TV?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nBush Hager: <\/strong>I was the editor of my school newspaper. It wasn\u2019t necessarily about being on TV; I wanted to tell stories. After I was on the show to promote a book that I wrote, the executive producer was like, \u201cYou should do this [full time]. Are you interested?\u201d I was like, \u201cAre you kidding me?\u201d I was teaching at a public school at the time and really focused on that. But he kept asking me. Finally, after two years, I was like, \u201cYou know what? Maybe I\u2019ll come take this interview.\u201d<\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> When I was in fifth grade, I took a yellow sheet of construction paper and a brown crayon and I drew myself. I scribbled in a little TV box and me with helmet hair and earrings. It was like a vision board<\/a> before vision boards were a thing. I even put the black-and-white headshots of the local news anchors on display in my bedroom. What 16-year-old does that?<\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> We did get here in such different ways. When young women ask for advice, I say to be open because you never know. I remember even my grandparents were like, \u201cYou\u2019re not going to take the interview with the Today show?!\u201d Things can come at you in different ways, but only if you\u2019re open, only if you show up and only if you do the work.\u00a0<\/p>\nRelated: Sheinelle Jones Shares Her Oprah-Inspired Dream for New \u2018Today\u2019 Role<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nAre your kids friends with each other?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> When our kids were smaller and we could bring them on television and they didn\u2019t have a choice. We would do a lot of segments with them and take them places like The Museum of Ice Cream. It was a producer\u2019s dream.\u00a0<\/p>\nWhen you\u2019re this busy, is it easy to shrug off Mom mistakes?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> No. I can make a mistake on television and write it off. If I do something that would maybe hurt my kids\u2019 feelings, it stays with me until I make the next one. Parenting, to me, is the most important job. So the pressure I put on myself in that arena is way more intense than my time on TV.<\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> You know, they say you\u2019re only as happy as your least happy child. And obviously my kids have gone through a lot, and so I can sit here and I can laugh, but all I care about really and truly is how are my kids doing this morning?<\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> We\u2019re professional at work, but if we go and have a glass of wine or lunch across the street, all we talk about is kids and the mistakes. The personal stuff is more important.<\/p>\nDo you ever call your moms for parenting advice?<\/strong><\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> No. No. Well, first of all, I don\u2019t have to call her. She\u2019ll give it to me.<\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> I call it backseat parenting.\u00a0<\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> You know there are some people who are on the phone with their moms all day. But my mom is not a hoverer.\u00a0<\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> Neither is mine.\u00a0<\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> If I call her right now, she\u2019ll answer. If I need her to get here from Kansas, she\u2019ll get here. But every day?\u00a0<\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> I found a letter that my mom wrote to me at camp when I was 16. I was like a counselor. She was like, \u201cDear Jenna, we received your AP scores. The bad news, you got a 1 in Spanish. But excellent news, you got a 5 in psychology. And I didn\u2019t even know you took AP Psychology.\u201d\u00a0 I think that\u2019s probably why we\u2019re successful\u2014we didn\u2019t have anybody sitting over and saying, \u201cDo your homework, go do this.\u201d We had to self-motivate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> I parent that way too, for better or worse. I\u2019m not a helicopter parent. We have boundaries.\u00a0<\/p>\nSheinelle, you\u2019ve gone from the lowest of the personal to the highest of the professional. How do you navigate that?<\/strong><\/p>\nJones: <\/strong>My highs and lows are coming by the minute, and I don\u2019t see them coming. I can have a great show and then go home and someone\u2019s in tears or \u201cI miss Dad.\u201d Whatever emotion I feel, I lean into it at that time. I remember hearing Tyler Perry<\/a><\/strong> talk about grief<\/a>\u2014he said that if you stay busy, \u201cgrief will just wait for you to finish.\u201d And then as soon as you\u2019re finished, \u201cHi, I\u2019m here.\u201d I\u2019ve taught my kids that. Like, you can do all the things. And if you ignore grief and you don\u2019t address it, it\u2019ll just calmly wait for you to finish. It will always be there for you. So now grief is like my beautiful stream, and I know it\u2019s there. But that doesn\u2019t mean I can\u2019t function.\u00a0<\/p>\nRelated: Sheinelle Jones Says \u2018Every Day Is Like Swimming Through Mud\u2019 as She Fights to Find Joy After Husband\u2019s Death<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nBecause <\/strong>Today with Jenna & Sheinelle<\/strong> loves a lightning round game, let\u2019s do one right now. As of today, what\u2019s your favorite movie?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nBush Hager<\/strong>: Love Actually<\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> My Best Friend\u2019s Wedding<\/p>\nAs of today, what book is on your nightstand?<\/strong><\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> I can\u2019t tell you because I\u2019m still picking for Jenna\u2019s Book Club. But I did recently read two non-work books: The Correspondent [by Virginia Evans<\/strong>] which is beautiful; and Theo of Golden [by Allen Levi<\/strong>], which my dad gave me.\u00a0<\/p>\nRelated: Jenna Bush Hager Names This \u2018Stunning Memoir\u2019 Her January Book Club Pick \u2014 A Tender Mother-Son Love Story<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> Not to be Debbie Downer, but The Hot Young Widows Club by Nora McInerney<\/strong> was the first time I felt really seen. There\u2019s another one called Widow to Widow [by Genevieve Davis Ginsburg<\/strong>] that\u2019s kind of like a What to Expect When You\u2019re Expecting if you\u2019re older. I find it comforting. I listen to them on Audible.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nAs of today, which TV show are you watching?<\/strong><\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> We finished The Beast in Me with Claire Danes<\/strong>. It\u2019s so good.\u00a0<\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> I just finished binge-watching Emily in Paris, and then I just finished Eddie Murphy<\/a>\u2019s<\/strong> documentary [Being Eddie].\u00a0<\/p>\nAs of today, what\u2019s your favorite junk food?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nBush Hager:<\/strong> I love a Cheeto\u2014orange fingers and all.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> All the Teddy Grahams. Chocolate and chocolate chip. I need to have a blend.<\/p>\nAnd as of today, what\u2019s your go-to music<\/a>?<\/strong><\/p>\nJones:<\/strong> Olivia Dean<\/strong>. Obsessed. It\u2019s actually unhealthy.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a well-known fact that morning<\/a> TV anchors are imbued with an appealing sense of warmth and relatability. The true test of character? How they behave in the afternoon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Cut to 12:48 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon in January<\/a>, when Jenna Bush<\/strong> Hager<\/strong> and Sheinelle Jones<\/strong> stride into their Today show set for their exclusive Parade cover story interview. Both arrived at Rockefeller Center around dawn, went live for the fourth hour of Today at 10 a.m. sharp (where they talked to Gabrielle Union<\/a><\/strong> and Sarah Jessica Parker<\/a><\/strong>) and then recorded a second installment to air on Friday<\/a>. And yet their energy level is somehow still at a 10. Heck, the two are so chatty that they veer into a fun, off-the-record conversation before the first official question.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not gassed,\u201d Bush Hager\u2014who left her suburban home at 4:45 a.m.\u2014says matter-of-factly. \u201cI always get up in the middle of the night. Yeah, we\u2019re excited.\u201d Echoes Jones, \u201cNone of this is lost on me! This is a gift.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The two are also riding an adrenaline high: Just two days earlier, Today with Jenna & Sheinelle ushered in a new era of the venerable morning show. Originally started by Hoda Kotb<\/a> and Kathie Lee Gifford in 2008, the fourth hour of Today has evolved into a light-hearted and occasionally boozy balm to the hard news. \u201cPeople are coming to us to take the heavy backpacks off,\u201d Bush Hager says. \u201cWe want you to sit and laugh and feel good and comforted and hopefully feel like you\u2019re with friends.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n While Bush Hager, 44, has been at it since 2019, she\u2019s co-hosted with a revolving group of guests since Kotb\u2019s departure in January 2025. Jones, 47, got the nod in December<\/a>. Says Bush Hager, \u201cIt\u2019s not a new face, and that feels really grounding and really exciting because we get to build something new.\u201d Jones\u2019 take: \u201cI think people thought it was a long time coming but it was not like that at all. Listen, Jenna had like 60 co-hosts and I was watching them, too! Each brought something special to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones does, too. The Wichita, Kansas-reared journalist worked her way up the old-fashioned way: After graduating from Northwestern University in 2000, she reported in various local markets and landed at NBC<\/a> News in 2014. As an anchor of Weekend Today and 3rd<\/sup> Hour of Today, she shared her personal life<\/a> with viewers\u2014including the heartbreak of losing her husband of 17 years, Uche Ojeh<\/strong>, to glioblastoma in May 2025. Jones is now adjusting to life as a family<\/a> of four with son<\/a> Kayin, 16, and 13-year-old fraternal twins Clara and Uche Jr. \u201cI\u2019ve had to learn to be as present as I can in the moment,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bush Hager\u2019s road to TV went through the White House<\/a>. The daughter of President George W. Bush<\/strong> (and granddaughter of 41st<\/sup> President George Bush<\/strong>), she was a freshman at the University of Texas when her dad was elected into office. In 2009, she was hired as an education<\/a> correspondent for NBC News and her extroverted personality soon shined through the screen. \u201cI wasn\u2019t like \u2018Let me come host a show,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cIt was nowhere near the realm of possibility.\u201d She wed businessman Henry Hager<\/strong> in 2009, and the pair have three children: Mila, 12, Poppy, 10 and Hal, 6.\u00a0<\/p>\n Source: Marc J. Franklin\/NBC\/Today<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Before clocking out for the day, Bush Hager and Jones sat down with Parade to share all.\u00a0<\/p>\n Parade<\/strong>: Sheinelle, when did this all really hit you?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Sheinelle Jones: <\/strong>That very first millisecond when I first walked out, I saw my name on the desk. \u201cSheinelle\u201d is not a typical name. The teacher<\/a> couldn\u2019t pronounce it on the first day of school. I had to always explain that my mom\u2019s name is Sheila, my dad\u2019s name is Darnell. To put that all aside and see my name on a table at the network was \u2026 it\u2019s surreal even now.<\/p>\n Jenna Bush Hager: <\/strong>I\u2019ve been doing this show for seven years, and I still remember that first-day feeling. The night before, I told my husband, \u201cYou\u2019re going to have to tranquilize me. I\u2019m so excited.\u201d Both sets of my grandparents<\/a> loved Today\u2014they loved Willard Scott<\/strong> and Al Roker<\/a><\/strong>. The fact that we get to work here is, like \u2026 we never take it for granted.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Jenna Bush Hager Shares Surprising Wedding Revelation on \u2018Today\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Was the <\/strong>Today<\/strong> show on in the White House?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Bush Hager<\/strong>: It was on in the White House. It sure was.\u00a0<\/p>\n What kind of personality do you need to host the fourth hour of <\/strong>Today?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> There has to be a level of openness. And it\u2019s a quick pace. Things change really quickly. I mean, it\u2019s a variety show. I think humor is very helpful. And there has to be a level of openness, which Sheinelle has in spades. She has a beautiful, open heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> I am willing to learn and challenge myself. And how can we make this show great? If this is the next guest, what would I want to ask them? I love that I still love it. I love that I still care.\u00a0<\/p>\n What do you remember about meeting each other for the first time?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> I immediately loved her. You know, she\u2019s from Kansas, I\u2019m from Texas. We had a lot in common.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> She seemed like a good time, but also smart. She checked all the boxes. I remember calling my mom, and being like, \u201cMom, she\u2019s just so\u2026<\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> Are you saying the word \u201cnormal\u201d?<\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> Not \u201cnormal\u201d because what is normal?\u00a0<\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> People do say I\u2019m normal. Like, \u201cHow are you so normal?\u201d I think it\u2019s a compliment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> But I actually think you\u2019re better than normal. You\u2019ve taken that part of your life and then you\u2019ve taken what we call \u201cnormal,\u201d and you\u2019ve made it a superpower. So you have the swag of something that no one can take from you, but then you\u2019ve got the heart of something that a lot of people can\u2019t muster. She can drop something like \u201cYeah, we watched Today in the White House.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> Yeah, well, she asked!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> But no one can touch it. Yeah, that\u2019s a badge. So wear it. I feel honored that she gave me the red rose.<\/p>\n Bush Hager<\/strong>: In the hot tub.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jenna, do people expect you to be a certain way because of your background?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> I have no idea! I don\u2019t really care, you know? I mean, I was 18 years old when my dad was President. I\u2019m 44 now. What that does is it creates a really thick skin. So the truth is, I can only be myself and not really worry what other people expect.\u00a0<\/p>\n You two took very different paths to get here. Why did you want to be on TV?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Bush Hager: <\/strong>I was the editor of my school newspaper. It wasn\u2019t necessarily about being on TV; I wanted to tell stories. After I was on the show to promote a book that I wrote, the executive producer was like, \u201cYou should do this [full time]. Are you interested?\u201d I was like, \u201cAre you kidding me?\u201d I was teaching at a public school at the time and really focused on that. But he kept asking me. Finally, after two years, I was like, \u201cYou know what? Maybe I\u2019ll come take this interview.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> When I was in fifth grade, I took a yellow sheet of construction paper and a brown crayon and I drew myself. I scribbled in a little TV box and me with helmet hair and earrings. It was like a vision board<\/a> before vision boards were a thing. I even put the black-and-white headshots of the local news anchors on display in my bedroom. What 16-year-old does that?<\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> We did get here in such different ways. When young women ask for advice, I say to be open because you never know. I remember even my grandparents were like, \u201cYou\u2019re not going to take the interview with the Today show?!\u201d Things can come at you in different ways, but only if you\u2019re open, only if you show up and only if you do the work.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Sheinelle Jones Shares Her Oprah-Inspired Dream for New \u2018Today\u2019 Role<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Are your kids friends with each other?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> When our kids were smaller and we could bring them on television and they didn\u2019t have a choice. We would do a lot of segments with them and take them places like The Museum of Ice Cream. It was a producer\u2019s dream.\u00a0<\/p>\n When you\u2019re this busy, is it easy to shrug off Mom mistakes?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> No. I can make a mistake on television and write it off. If I do something that would maybe hurt my kids\u2019 feelings, it stays with me until I make the next one. Parenting, to me, is the most important job. So the pressure I put on myself in that arena is way more intense than my time on TV.<\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> You know, they say you\u2019re only as happy as your least happy child. And obviously my kids have gone through a lot, and so I can sit here and I can laugh, but all I care about really and truly is how are my kids doing this morning?<\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> We\u2019re professional at work, but if we go and have a glass of wine or lunch across the street, all we talk about is kids and the mistakes. The personal stuff is more important.<\/p>\n Do you ever call your moms for parenting advice?<\/strong><\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> No. No. Well, first of all, I don\u2019t have to call her. She\u2019ll give it to me.<\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> I call it backseat parenting.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> You know there are some people who are on the phone with their moms all day. But my mom is not a hoverer.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> Neither is mine.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> If I call her right now, she\u2019ll answer. If I need her to get here from Kansas, she\u2019ll get here. But every day?\u00a0<\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> I found a letter that my mom wrote to me at camp when I was 16. I was like a counselor. She was like, \u201cDear Jenna, we received your AP scores. The bad news, you got a 1 in Spanish. But excellent news, you got a 5 in psychology. And I didn\u2019t even know you took AP Psychology.\u201d\u00a0 I think that\u2019s probably why we\u2019re successful\u2014we didn\u2019t have anybody sitting over and saying, \u201cDo your homework, go do this.\u201d We had to self-motivate.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> I parent that way too, for better or worse. I\u2019m not a helicopter parent. We have boundaries.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sheinelle, you\u2019ve gone from the lowest of the personal to the highest of the professional. How do you navigate that?<\/strong><\/p>\n Jones: <\/strong>My highs and lows are coming by the minute, and I don\u2019t see them coming. I can have a great show and then go home and someone\u2019s in tears or \u201cI miss Dad.\u201d Whatever emotion I feel, I lean into it at that time. I remember hearing Tyler Perry<\/a><\/strong> talk about grief<\/a>\u2014he said that if you stay busy, \u201cgrief will just wait for you to finish.\u201d And then as soon as you\u2019re finished, \u201cHi, I\u2019m here.\u201d I\u2019ve taught my kids that. Like, you can do all the things. And if you ignore grief and you don\u2019t address it, it\u2019ll just calmly wait for you to finish. It will always be there for you. So now grief is like my beautiful stream, and I know it\u2019s there. But that doesn\u2019t mean I can\u2019t function.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Sheinelle Jones Says \u2018Every Day Is Like Swimming Through Mud\u2019 as She Fights to Find Joy After Husband\u2019s Death<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Because <\/strong>Today with Jenna & Sheinelle<\/strong> loves a lightning round game, let\u2019s do one right now. As of today, what\u2019s your favorite movie?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Bush Hager<\/strong>: Love Actually<\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> My Best Friend\u2019s Wedding<\/p>\n As of today, what book is on your nightstand?<\/strong><\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> I can\u2019t tell you because I\u2019m still picking for Jenna\u2019s Book Club. But I did recently read two non-work books: The Correspondent [by Virginia Evans<\/strong>] which is beautiful; and Theo of Golden [by Allen Levi<\/strong>], which my dad gave me.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Jenna Bush Hager Names This \u2018Stunning Memoir\u2019 Her January Book Club Pick \u2014 A Tender Mother-Son Love Story<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> Not to be Debbie Downer, but The Hot Young Widows Club by Nora McInerney<\/strong> was the first time I felt really seen. There\u2019s another one called Widow to Widow [by Genevieve Davis Ginsburg<\/strong>] that\u2019s kind of like a What to Expect When You\u2019re Expecting if you\u2019re older. I find it comforting. I listen to them on Audible.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n As of today, which TV show are you watching?<\/strong><\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> We finished The Beast in Me with Claire Danes<\/strong>. It\u2019s so good.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> I just finished binge-watching Emily in Paris, and then I just finished Eddie Murphy<\/a>\u2019s<\/strong> documentary [Being Eddie].\u00a0<\/p>\n As of today, what\u2019s your favorite junk food?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Bush Hager:<\/strong> I love a Cheeto\u2014orange fingers and all.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> All the Teddy Grahams. Chocolate and chocolate chip. I need to have a blend.<\/p>\n And as of today, what\u2019s your go-to music<\/a>?<\/strong><\/p>\n Jones:<\/strong> Olivia Dean<\/strong>. Obsessed. It\u2019s actually unhealthy.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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