Jenna Bush Hager has a special connection with Savannah Guthrie’s daughter, Vale.
In addition to being colleagues, Jenna and Savannah are close outside of work. The friends are so tight that Savannah entrusted Jenna to play an important role in her daughter’s life: godmother.
Jenna shared the news Feb. 25 on TODAY while talking with Savannah about her new children’s book, “Mostly What God Does is Love You.”
To promote the book, Savannah asked her daughter, 10, to interview her while her son, Charley, 8, watched from behind the scenes.
After the segment aired, Jenna teared up while applauding Vale for doing a great job.
“I’m so lucky to be her godmother,” she said.
“I know, look at you crying! You’re going to make me cry,” Savannah said as she held Jenna’s hand.
“I know. But I’m so proud of her because, you know, everything you’ve given to them, all of your faith that you pass down so gently without preaching, without demanding, are in those little kids. And when the world feels dark, that is hope!” Jenna said as Savannah teared up.
Later in the morning, Savannah appeared on TODAY with Jenna & Friends to discuss her new book with Jenna and her co-host of the week, Heather McMahan.
During the interview, Jenna shared that Savannah also has a close connection with one of her three children.
“One of the things you may not know about Savannah and I is that Savannah is my son Hal Hager’s godmother, and I am her daughter Vale’s godmother,” she said to McMahan.
“I love that! Oh that’s beautiful,” the comedian replied.
Jenna went on to explain that she and Savannah have had “really big conversations about faith” together.
Savannah then opened up about the “most beautiful things to come out of doing these books.”
“Even with people I know, it kind of opened up this new avenue for deeper conversation. It doesn’t mean that you agree. In fact, you could be of different faiths or no faith at all. But having that connection and talking about things that matter, that’s what I feel like I notice most on the book tour. There’s such a hunger and thirst for, and it’s fun to be in those conversations,” she said.
Jenna and Savannah are certainly close friends, and their eldest children are too. In December 2024, Savannah shared photos of herself and Vale with Jenna and her daughter Mila, 11, at a White House event.
Last year, the TODAY colleagues also took their daughters on a trip to Palm Beach, Florida. While chatting about the vacation on air, Jenna opened up about the inspiration for their girls getaway.
“We planned this, I think, before 2024,” Jenna explained. “We planned it because Vale was baptized. And Mila said, ‘Girls, I feel like we need a girls trip.’”