Jenna Bush Hager had a hard time adjusting when she became a host on Today.
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Jenna joined Today in 2010. And when she began, she brought her Texas roots with her. But her producers weren’t impressed. So they asked her to change her Southern demeanor and even banned her from saying a common phrase.
“[They were like], ‘Hey, y’all,’ isn’t for the whole country,’” she recalled while talking to Hoda Kotb on December 2nd. “And I was like, ‘Well, but it’s who I am.’ It’s so weird, and this happens in life, too. If you have friends and then, all of a sudden, you’re acting not who you are, and you’re like, ‘Wait,’ something in your gut feels wrong.”
Jenna Bush Hager said her bosses were basically asking her to “pretend to be a news person,” which made her feel like she was “acting.”
“I’m not a great actor,” she continued. “When you try to pretend you’re somebody else, it feels crazy.”
Jenna Bush Hagar & Hoda Kotb Have To Ignore The Pressure
Hoda added that producers pick at more than just the way correspondents speak. They also try to control how they dress and present themselves.
“If you don’t fit, they want you to wear something a certain way, cut your hair a certain way, speak a certain way,” she said.
Fortunately, both Hoda Kobt and Jenna Bush Hager found a middle ground in their careers. While it took “a long time,” they were able to ignore the pressure to create a “news person” persona.
Jenna admitted it took her longer to find her place in her career than Koda, who began her correspondent career on Dateline in 1998. But she was happy to finally ignore the pressure, saying it makes a person feel like they’re “losing” who they are.
This story’s featured image is by Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images.
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