Jenna Bush Hager underwent a somewhat stressful hair transformation on Tuesday, just nine minutes before she was set to host the Today show’s fourth hour with The White Lotus star Leslie Bibb. The mother of three shared insight into her chaotic morning in an Instagram video that saw her sitting in a chair backstage with a black cape draped over her to protect her clothing. Behind Jenna was celebrity hairstylist Chris McMillan, who was cutting her shoulder-length bob even shorter despite the time crunch.
“You know what happens when he’s here?” Jenna said to the camera as Chris combed and cut her hair. “We don’t mess around. We get right to business,” he chimed in, as she agreed, “We get straight to it.” Suddenly, the TV personality yelled: “Two minutes to air!” and looked frazzled as Chris continued to cut away.
“Look! We’re good to go,” he said, to which Jenna replied: “Hurry up! Hold on! Thank you so much!” The camera then cut to her and Leslie walking on set, ready to host Jenna and Friends together. “A fresh trim nine minutes before the show starts? No problem! @mrchrismcmillan killed it as usual! #jennaandfriends,” read the caption.
Fans couldn’t get enough of the backstage moment, with one writing: “I love that you are keeping the bob up!” while another chimed in: “That haircut is so adorable on you!” Another added: “The bob is very sophisticated,” while a fourth declared: “This cut looks so pretty on you. Hope you keep it.”
Jenna first took the plunge in June and had her hair cut just like Leslie’s live on-air when the actress was guest-hosting Jenna and Friends. “When I was here back in March, Jenna vowed to get on board with the bob, and today is the day,” Leslie said on the show. Chris, who created Leslie’s viral haircut for The White Lotus, as well as the famous Rachel haircut from Friends, started snipping Jenna’s hair on-air, and surprised her with how short the look was.
© Instagram“I feel a little…You know that ’90s movie Single White Female, where you try to copy somebody to such an extent?” she later asked Leslie. “You made this haircut so famous, and then I used your hairstylist, who is a star, to get the exact same haircut, and I’m feeling a little strange.”
© TODAY / NBC“You don’t look strange. You look sexy and powerful and glamorous,” Leslie assured. Jenna’s three children, Mila, Poppy and Hal, were less impressed with her new look, as she revealed in a clip taken on the day of her haircut. “I will say, I walked in to show my children and you just…I videoed it,” Jenna shared on Today, before showing a clip of their hilarious reactions.
© Getty Images for ResortPass“I think they thought they were getting a puppy.” Poppy was the first to react, asking her mom: “What are you doing?” followed by Mila’s brutally honest assessment that she didn’t like it, which Hal agreed with. Even though her kids didn’t react positively to her haircut, her husband, Henry Hager, was a big fan. “The best thing is my husband did like it. He was like, ‘Damn, that’s hot.’ Which was sweet,” she said.
