Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager share most hurtful comments they’ve received

Jenna Bush Hager has revealed that her middle-school boyfriend cruelly dumped her after seeing her in a swimsuit, saying she still thinks about it to this day. 

The Today star, 41, and her co-host Hoda Kotb, 58, reflected on the hurtful comments they’ve received over the years while discussing Ariana Grande’s response to the public scrutiny over her changing body on Wednesday’s show. 

‘I had a boyfriend in seventh grade that broke up with me after we went swimming together, after he saw me in a bathing suit,’ Bush Hager recalled. 

‘So I feel like even sometimes now when I feel great, I have three kids, three C-sections, I feel like really in my body, and I think of it as a beautiful thing, I’ll walk in a pool and have a moment of like [gasps].

She and her co-host Hoda Kotb were discussing the recent public scrutiny over Ariana Grande’s body when she shared the painful memory 

‘I had a boyfriend in seventh grade that broke up with me after we went swimming together, after he saw me in a bathing suit,’ recalled Bush Hager (pictured as a child)

‘There’s been times when we’ve done this show where people have written about our [bodies],’ she added. ‘It takes you back to that moment.’

Bush Hager had been candid about how she struggled with body image growing up, previously sharing how she found a fourth-grade diary entry in which she vowed to lose four pounds on January 1, 1991.

Her latest reflection comes three months after she shared that her late grandmother Barbara Bush told her she looked ‘chubby’ in a bikini when she was a teenager — only to apologize for the cutting remark years later.

‘I remember the bikini color I was wearing, a yellow bikini color,’ she explained in January. ‘I was laying next to my sister [Barbara Bush], and my grandmother, who I adored, but had kind of a biting personality, said something like, “Oh, Jenna! Looking chubby.”‘

The former first daughter explained how her grandmother’s passing comment had impacted the way she viewed herself in her formative years. 

‘I remember feeling like I wanted to hide in it,’ she said.

Bush Hager (pictured with her daughter Mila) admitted that she still thinks about that moment decades later and will sometimes gasp when she is getting into a pool and the memory hits her

Bush Hager had been candid about how she struggled with body image growing up, previously sharing how she found a fourth-grade diary entry in which she vowed to lose four pounds

In January, Bush Hager (pictured with a friend before prom) shared that her grandmother Barbara Bush told her she looked ‘chubby’ in a bikini when she was a teen – only to apologize for the cutting remark years later

Bush Hager admitted she didn’t wear a bikini for years after that, but she later learned that her grandmother had been projecting her own insecurities onto her. 

She shared how the former first lady apologized to her later in life, saying, ‘You know, when I said those things to you, I was talking to myself.’

After Bush Hager’s story about her seventh-grade boyfriend, Kotb opened up about a cutting moment in her own life. 

She recalled how she was mom-shamed for adopting her daughters Haley, six, and Hope, four, when she was in her 50s. 

‘I’ll never forget this. I got a letter addressed that was addressed to me in somebody’s handwriting to my house,’ she told Bush Hager. 

Kotb said the person wrote ‘something along the lines of, “How dare you bring a child into this world at your age. Don’t you know what you’re doing to that child?”‘

‘It went on and on. It took my breath away because that actually was my ouch,’ she explained, saying her age was already something she was concerned about. 

After Bush Hager’s story about her seventh-grade boyfriend, Kotb opened up about about being mom-shamed for adopting her daughters Haley, six, and Hope, four, in her 50s 

Kotb recalled how the person wrote her a letter, saying, ‘How dare you bring a child into this world at your age. Don’t you know what you’re doing to that child?’

Both Bush Hager and Kotb agreed that people should hold back from making comments, even if they think they are being helpful, because you never know what someone is going through

‘When I read it, I thought, “Someone took a pen and sat at a table and wrote that down and got a stamp and mailed it. Like went to all that trouble to say that to me… This took care and time and research,’ she noted. 

What helped her move on from the moment was the reminder of the memories she has of her father, who passed away when she was in college.  

‘I remember thinking, “We have our parents for a period of time,”‘ she said. ‘I know the foundation he left. I know it was worth every second of that time, so I thought about that too.’ 

The Today stars’ discussion on Wednesday’s show was in response to Grande, 29,  shutting down recent concerns about her appearance from fans who pointed out her weight loss and suggested that her face has changed over time.

The singer, who has been filming the Wicked adaptation in London, responded in a video shared on TikTok, saying she is healthier than ever. 

Both Bush Hager and Kotb agreed that people should hold back from making comments, even if they think they are being helpful, because you never know what someone is going through.  

‘We need to stop commenting on women’s bodies. Period. You said it perfectly. We’re in our bodies. We know,’ Bush Hager said.  

‘I walk around in my body. I don’t need you telling me what I already know,’ Kotb added. ‘I live here. This is me.’