Today host Jenna Bush Hager has revealed she was ‘disinvited to prom,’ despite having already purchased a dress for the big occasion, because her date found out that she had ‘kissed somebody else.’
During Tuesday’s episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna, Jenna, 42, and Hoda Kotb were discussing Billie Eilish’s recent comments about being ghosted when the former First Daughter admitted she had ‘never [been] ghosted, but I was invited to prom and then was disinvited,’ as her cohost replied: ‘So now you sound like a victim here….’
‘Well, how would you feel if you were invited…,’ Jenna fired back, as Hoda, 59, reasoned with her and said: ‘Okay, now I’m with you, I don’t like to be invited somewhere and then disinvited. But will you please tell me why your prom date decided that he did not want to go to prom with you any more?’
Jenna then divulged: ‘Well, I kissed somebody else,’ which led to gasps from the camera crew, as she continued: ‘But now, before everybody gets their panties in a roar… panties in a bunch… whatever the analogy is! Here’s the thing, I wasn’t dating him, okay? We were going as friends to the prom, therefore, I can’t be controlled.’
Eager to get to the bottom of the story, Hoda replied: ‘Okay, so I have a question, let me just follow up… so you were just friends with the guy, so as friends you were able to say, “I don’t want to go with you.” Okay, this friend of yours who you were friends with, did you date him before you were friends?’ as Jenna confirmed: ‘Yes I did.’
Jenna Bush Hager has admitted she was ‘disinvited to prom’ when she was a sophomore
Jenna pictured in November 1997 alongside her twin sister, Barbara, when they were 16 years old
‘Okay, the reveal… this is like peeling an onion!’ Hoda joked, before probing further and asking: ‘So you dated him and now you’re just friends going. Now, did you think you were going as friends?’
Sounding quite defensive, Jenna fired back: ‘Yes I did! Yes I did! We were friends, we were together, we had broken up for a period of time, it was his senior prom, I was a sophomore…,’ as Hoda gasped and commented: ‘Oh you were a sophomore, you were young! Wait, this is getting juicier!’
Butting in again, Jenna said: ‘Now, now, let’s not make this a character assassination! The age difference is okay… I feel like I’m on trial! Anyway, I was disinvited.’
‘Now, I will go ahead, and for the record, state: I had already purchased a dress with my mother in tow,’ Jenna revealed as Hoda asked: ‘Why didn’t you go with the guy you had kissed?’
‘Because he was a sophomore too, it was a senior prom,’ Jenna admitted, before confirming: ‘But I did go with him him senior year so it all ended up fine.’
‘So it all went full circle!’ Hoda stated as the camera crew gave Jenna’s story a ‘weak smattering of applause.’
This isn’t the first time that Jenna has opened up about her teenage years and in July 2023, she admitted that she once visited a nude beach in Spain while her father, George W. Bush, was in the midst of his presidential campaign.
During an episode of their show, Hoda and Jenna were discussing how Speedos were making a comeback when she Jenna was reminded of her European getaway many years ago.
Hoda Kotb probed Jenna for more details about the story and ended up teasing her
Jenna and her sister Barbara pictured with their parents George and Laura in 1997
Jenna met her now husband met Henry Chase Hager in 2004, and the couple are pictured here in 2006 when she was 25-years-old
‘Some would argue it never went away, because if you go to the beaches of Europe, which I haven’t been to in awhile — Speedos or no Speedos, there are a lot of nude beaches in Europe,’ she said.
When Hoda asked if she ever went to a nude beach, she confirmed she visited one during a study abroad trip to Spain when she was 18.
‘I’ve done it,’ she said, but she didn’t specify when the trip took place — or if her twin sister, Barbara Bush, was with her — but her father was running for president at the time.
The Read with Jenna founder was a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin when her dad was sworn into office in January 2001.
Jenna also alluded to getting sunburned in areas that didn’t typically see the sun when she was naked on the beach.
‘I’ll just say, bring extra sunscreen if you’re going. At the time, it feels fun and free. But wear extra protection — sunscreen, that is — because the sun hits in parts you’ll never see,’ the former first daughter joked.
