It’s been more than a decade since Jenna Bush Hager’s dad, former President George W. Bush, lived in the White House, but she can still remember the ghostly encounter she had.
“The White House is haunted,” the Today With Hoda & Jenna cohost exclusively recalls to Us Weekly. “My [twin] sister [Barbara Bush] and I heard a ghost playing classical piano, but she seemed friendly.”
Jenna and Barbara, 40, were headed off to college when their dad, 76, won the 2000 presidential election and was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States in 2001. He served two consecutive terms.
The Bush twins, as they were known back then, often made headlines for their fun-loving ways. “I … watched as my sister crowd-surfed at a Pearl Jam concert,” Jenna shares with Us.
Both sisters now have families of their own: the NBC personality shares daughters Mila, 9, and Poppy, 7, and son Hal, 3, with husband Henry Hager, while Barbara is mom to daughter Cora, 14 months, whom she shares with husband Craig Coyne. Though the parties may look different today, Jenna never passes up a fun celebration.
“I love costume parties! We used to do an Olden Times party around the 4th of July, and I was Cleopatra and a saber-toothed tiger,” she tells Us.
Keep scrolling to learn more fun facts about the Today anchor, including her love for Taylor Swift, the icon she was most starstruck to meet and more:
1. My current obsession is season 2 of The White Lotus!
2. My latest project is a new e-book I cowrote with Dawn, The Wonderful World of Blue. I wrote it to empower and educate future wildlife heroes via small actions they can take at home to help create a cleaner world for wildlife.
3. I’ve recently started a production company with Universal Studios to option books into television shows.
4. My greatest pleasure is reading. It’s an opportunity to travel to places we’ll never get to go to and to meet people who fill our lives with vivid color and crazy stories.
5. I’m not a great cook, but my kids and husband love when I make turkey tacos!
6. I was most starstruck interviewing Maya Angelou in her Harlem home.
7. The first job I had was in high school. I worked in a clothing store and was also a camp counselor.
8. The best advice I’ve received was from my mom. She always told us when we were in high school (and worrying about high school-size problems) to save our worries for big things because big things will come.
9. My first concert was Paul Simon’s Graceland Tour.
10. I also watched as my sister crowd-surfed at a Pearl Jam concert.
11. I’ve never met a cheese I don’t like.
12. The White House is haunted; my sister and I heard a ghost playing classical piano, but she seemed friendly.
13. My celebrity crush growing up was Eddie Vedder.
14. When I was little, I dreamed of becoming a teacher. If I weren’t cohosting Today With Hoda & Jenna, that’s what I’d be doing.
15. My typical day starts around 5 a.m. I work out, [then] I start meetings and the show is from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. In the afternoons, I’m either on shoots or working on our “Read With Jenna” book club and production company. I end my days with my kids.
16. I always cry when I’m happy, and sometimes, I cry when guests on our show say something profound.
17. My husband proposed to me in Acadia National Park.
18. I love costume parties! We used to do an Olden Times party around the 4th of July, and I was Cleopatra and a saber-toothed tiger.
19. My most embarrassing moments while filming are when I sweat through my shirts and have to have [Today coanchor] Hoda [Kotb] blow-dry my armpits.
20. I can’t travel without a book. I’m always searching for debut and diverse authors for #ReadWithJenna.
21. I love interior design and architecture.
22. I listen to Taylor Swift no matter how I’m feeling.
23. Hoda is the person who makes me laugh the most.
24. I rafted down the Grand Canyon once for a week with my mom and camped under the stars!
25. My favorite place to travel to is Maine every summer with my family.
