Wynonna Judd has so much love for Jenna Bush Hager. While co-hosting TODAY with Jenna & Friends on Jan. 30, the country music icon told Jenna how she’s been thinking about her since she’s taken the reins of the show after Hoda Kotb left TODAY, comparing the experience to when she and her late mother, Naomi Judd, broke up as the Judds in the early 1990s.
“I was going to tell you this. Last night I didn’t sleep at all because I just have you on my heart,” Judd said.
“I watch you every day, and I went on my own in 1992, solo, and I think about you so much. And you’re a mom and a wife, and I don’t know how you’re doing this, but I just want to affirm you and say that being authentic is lonely. And I can imagine you feel that way sometimes, but I just love you and I appreciate you and I admire you so much.”
Jenna was choked up, as Judd explained how difficult putting a show together is.
“This is hard. This isn’t easy. We make it look easy, but the truth is we’re paddling like heck underneath the waters, right, and making it look good from here up,” she continued while motioning to her face.
“And, it’s just amazing. I had to do this show. I don’t really love live TV because I’m always afraid I’m going to go viral for the wrong reasons, but I just had to do this.”
“That is so sweet,” an emotional Jenna said.
“I just admire you for doing this on your own. I have you on my heart because I did it myself,” Judd said, noting how she went “out on my own.”
She said that period of her life was challenging.
“It was exhilarating and terrifying, but when the voices are speaking to you, just remember,” she said as she started singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
“Walk through the storm/ Hold your head up high/ And don’t be afraid of the dark/ Walk on,” she sang.
“Wow!” a teary-eyed Jenna responded.
“That’s what you’re doing,” Judd said.
Judd joked that she wanted to make Jenna cry.