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Jenna Bush Hager on ‘Today with Jenna & Friends’

Jenna Bush Hager is spilling some tea!

On Thursday, Oct. 23, the 43-year-old Today with Jenna & Friends co-host and daughter of former President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush shared a never-before-discussed college romance she kept from the members of her Secret Service team.

“I’ve talked about this before but I had Secret Service and I hesitate even saying this but I dated a football player at Texas for a brief time and I was embarrassed that the Secret Service would know that,” Bush Hager shared with guest co-host Savannah Guthrie. “I don’t know why. Not that the football player… at all. I just didn’t want them to know I had a new boyfriend because senior year was active for me.”

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Barbara and Jenna Bush in 2004 on the campaign trail with First Lady Laura Bush and President George W. Bush

Bush Hager attended The University of Texas at Austin for college during her father’s first term as president.

“Lots of walks of shame,” Guthrie teased her.

“Lots of them,” Bush Hager agreed. “So I had my friends sneak me. I was in the back of the car and they snuck me past the Secret Service.”

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Jenna Bush Hager in 2004 on the campaign trail for her dad, George W. Bush

Adding that she’s “never admitted this,” Bush Hager confirmed it was “the only time I escaped them.” She also added of her football player ex, “Then we broke up soon after.”

“You snuck out from the Secret Service. So they thought you were at home in bed reading the Bible or whatever and you were at the football player’s house?” Guthrie questioned before high-fiving Bush Hager for her college antics.

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Henry Hager and Jenna Bush Hager in Sept. 2025

Bush Hager married her husband, Henry Hager, in 2008 and they share daughters Mila, 12, Poppy, 10, and son Hal, 6. The TV personality has previously opened up about wishing she’d dated more prior to meeting her husband.

“I dated in college, I dated in high school. But I didn’t date enough, which is what I realized,” Bush Hager told then-co-host Hoda Kotb on the show in May 2024. “I was a serial monogamist, which was fine. But I should have dated more.”

Kotb chimed in and asked, “How come? Why do you think that?” to which Bush Hager responded, “I just think you should.”

The revelation has since gone viral among “Today” viewers, many of whom have praised Jenna for her candidness about the struggles of maintaining a normal social life under the constant watch of a security detail. Fans on social media found the “back of the car” escape particularly relatable, noting that despite her proximity to the leader of the free world, her college desires were much like anyone else’s. This story adds a humorous layer to the public’s understanding of the “Bush twins” era, which was often defined by tabloid scrutiny and minor legal scrapes. As Jenna moves forward with her 2026 projects, including her popular “Open Book” podcast, she continues to lean into these personal “tea-spilling” moments, proving that her transition from a rebellious first daughter to a beloved morning host is built on a foundation of genuine, unvarnished honesty.