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Jenna Bush Hager pays emotional tribute to Hoda Kotb amid heartache

Hoda recently split from her fiance

Rebecca Lewis
Rebecca Lewis - Los Angeles
Los Angeles correspondentLos Angeles
March 3, 2022
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Today Show star Jenna Bush Hager has praised her friend and co-star Hoda Kotb for her "compassion and grace".

MORE: Hoda Kotb opens up about Covid battle on Today as fans send their support

The close friends have leaned on each other in recent years, and most recently after Hoda announced she had split from her fiance Joel Schiffman, who is also the father of her two children.

WATCH: Hoda Kotb opens up about decision to split from Joel Schiffman

Now, 40-year-old Jenna has lauded her friend, sharing that she comes into the office "every morning smiling at every single person".

"I am proud of Hoda every single day," she revealed. "She's filled with compassion and grace and she does everything that way. I watch her come into her office every morning smiling at every single person."

MORE: Inside Hoda Kotb's stylish NY home where she will co-parent her daughters

MORE: Hoda Kotb's fans worry for her daughters and fiancé amid health struggle

Jenna added that Hoda had "treated me with such love and has been a mentor and now a really dear friend" and so it was "no surprise" to see her handle the breakup in the same way.

Along with Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Carson Daly and others who help to host the NBC morning show, Jenna told Entertainment Tonight that they are like a family and "just so happy to have each other".

hoda kotb jenna bush hager

Hoda and Jenna have presented together for seveal years

"People say the Today show is a family and it seems like a cliché but it's true. Hoda is like a sister to me, a lovely, wonderful presence in my life That is the truth."

Hoda is mom to two young daughters Haley and Hope.

The TV star shares her children with ex-fiancé Joel and the pair have remained good friends. Hoda announced the sad news of their split on Today's fourth hour at the end of January.

today hoda kotb daughters fiance joel

Joel and Hoda have two girls

After viewers had noticed that she wasn't wearing her engagement ring, Hoda addressed the situation while talking to Jenna.

She shared: "Joel and I have had a lot of prayerful and really meaningful conversations over the holidays, and we decided that we're better as friends and parents than we are as an engaged couple."

She continued: "We decided that we are going to start this new year and begin it kind of on our new path as loving parents to our adorable, delightful children, and as friends. It's not like something happened. They say sometimes relationships are meant to be there for a reason or a season or for a lifetime. And I feel like ours was meant to be there for a season."

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