Barbara Bush Admits She Doesn't Watch Sister Jenna Bush Hager on 'Today' : 'The Timing Isn't Great'

Jenna Bush Hager has been co-hosting Today with Hoda & Jenna since 2019

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Published on April 19, 2022 12:55 PM

Jenna and Barbara Bush — Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Don't expect Barbara Bush Coyne to tune into the Today show to watch her twin sister, Jenna Bush Hager.

Amid co-host Hoda Kotb's absence from Today with Hoda & Jenna on Tuesday, the two 40-year-olds were gearing up to play a game called "Sister Twister." At one point, Jenna asked Barbara — who was guest co-hosting in Kotb's place — whether she'd ever seen the show.

"Well, I'm at work usually," said Barbara. "I've seen some YouTube clips."

Jenna's shock increased after Barbara revealed she doesn't follow the morning show on Instagram either. "Okay, you need to follow us on Instagram right after this," Jenna added.

When fellow sisters Sara and Erin Foster joined the episode, Jenna revealed that the pair's parents — Laura and George W. Bush — only watched Tuesday's episode because Barbara was joining as a guest co-host.

"Barbra just told me she doesn't watch the show," Jenna said as Barbara added, "The timing isn't great for my calendar!"

Jenna became a correspondent and contributor on the Today show in 2009. Nearly 10 years later, she was tapped to co-anchor the fourth hour alongside Kotb, 57, following Kathie Lee Gifford's departure.

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager — Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Barbara, meanwhile, is an activist who co-founded Global Health Corps in 2009. The non-profit organization aims to "mobilize a diverse community of leaders to build the movement for global health equity," according to its website.

The fraternal twins boast a lot of similarities and differences but they are close nonetheless. In fact, Jenna and Barbara recently teamed up to pen the children's book, The Superpower Sisterhood.

Appearing together on the Today show's 8 a.m. hour on Tuesday, the former first daughters opened up about what has allowed them to maintain a close bond.

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"I think we like all the same things. We want to laugh. We want to find joy in life and whenever I feel kind of down, Barbara's who I call," Jenna told co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. "She's joyful, she's fun to be around."

"But also, our parents did something right," Jenna continued. "They made us make sure that we support each other and not compare ourselves to each other."

Added Barbara, "We are different in many ways, our temperaments are different, but as Jenna says, we love the same things so it's great to be around each other so it's only additive in our lives"

Updated by

Dave Quinn