Jenna Bush Hager Celebrates 43rd Birthday with Champagne Toast onTodayShow: 'I'm Pre-Menopausal!'

Mar. 15, 2025

Hoda Kotb Celebrates Jenna Bush Hager’s 43rd Birthday.Photo:NBC

NBC

It’sJenna Bush Hager’s special day!

The host celebrated her 43rd birthday on the Nov. 25 episode of theTodayshow alongsideHoda Kotb. Bush Hager was surprised with champagne and flowers as they joked about her turning 30.

“I’m pre-menopausal!” Bush Hager laughed.

In the fourth hour, the cohosts discussed how Bush Hager would be celebrating and she revealed her family already started the festivities.

“We put up our Christmas tree last night, and[her husband] Henry [Hager]did something very sweet for me – he planned a dinner party that was murder mystery themed,” she shared. “I’ve always wanted to do that where you solved a mystery.”

Henry Hager and Jenna Bush Hager.Andrew Toth/FilmMagic

“Who won?” Kotb questioned, to which Bush Hager joked, “I don’t know! I can’t remember because it’s not really a winning or losing thing. It’s more about who is murdered.”

“He knew I always wanted to do it, it was very fun,” she said. “So anyway, we celebrated and now is today, Monday, and I’m chill.”

“Are we celebrating again tonight or no?” Kotb inquired.

“No, I think we’ll chill, my sister’s coming,” Bush Hager responded,referring to her twin Barbara Pierce Bush. “Can I say happy birthday to my twin, my little sissy? She doesn’t watch our show, but if she did, we’d say ‘happy birthday.’”

“On Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we’ll do a joint party for the kids,” she continued. “Don’t you think that birthdays are kind for the kids? They’ll celebrate. Mila wants to make a cake.”

Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush Hager.Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty

Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty

Unlike theTodayhost, Bush opted for a career out of the spotlight, working as an activist for various causes throughout the years. In 2009, she focused on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa, founding a nonprofit organization calledGlobal Health Corpswith Bush Hager to help make healthcare more inclusive and equitable.

“I mean seeing literally like thousands of people lining the street waiting for drugs that they needed to live, that we had in the United States, was something that was very hard for me to wrap my brain around,” shetold ELLEin 2013. “The lack of justice in that.”

In 2011, she took a stand for LGBTQ+ rights when she released a video with the Human Rights Campaign calling for the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York.

“I am Barbara Bush, and I am a New Yorker for marriage equality,” she said in the video. “New York is about fairness and equality. And everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love.”

She also advocates for women’s reproductive rights, heavily supporting Planned Parenthood.

“To me, Planned Parenthood is a one-stop shop for everything that has to do with women’s health and all social problems that don’t have to do with women’s health,” she said in akeynote speech at a Planned Parenthood fundraiserin 2017. “I hope you all realize the incredible investment that you’re making for both women and also their kids, their kids' education and their income level. And that is unique and incredible. It’s a silver bullet, if you ask me."

Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush Hager.Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty

Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty

Bush Hager, on the other hand, started her career as a teacher before shifting to become an author and a mother to her and Hager’s three children — daughtersMargaret Laura “Mila” Hager, 11, andPoppy Louise Hager, 9, and their son,Henry Harold “Hal” Hager, 3.

In 2009, she was offered a job as a correspondent on theTodayshow and joined Kotb as a cohost in 2019 whenKathie Lee Giffordleft the role.

“It feels organic and it feels right, which I don’t know if I would do it if it didn’t,” she told PEOPLE at the time. “They probably wouldn’t have asked me to do it if it didn’t. But it just feels like the right time for me.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Todayairs weekday mornings on NBC (check local listings).

source: people.com