Carson Daly Nearly Leaves the TODAY Desk After Getting Teased About His Exes
Jenna Bush Hager couldn't help but poke fun at her friend and co-host about a couple famous ex girlfriends.
Well, Carson Daly certainly didn't see that coming.
During TODAY's May 1 episode, the cast — especially Jenna Bush Hager and Savannah Guthrie — had a little fun at the expense of the 51-year-old and his extensive dating history from early in his career. During a discussion of a recent TikTok trend involving someone saying, "I'm so hungry, I could eat…" — and then saying a name that would make the other person uncomfortable, Daly quickly realized that Hager was way too prepared for the segment.
Hager didn't waste any time bringing up Daly's past.
"I'm so hungry I could eat a Jennifer Love Hewitt," she said, referencing Daly's ex from the late 1990s.
"Right," Daly casually responded before processing what Hager had just said. "Wait, what?"
"Thank you for doing what I was about to do," Guthrie told Hager.
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Daly realized his co-stars had ambushed him and jokingly asked for a "new seat" while calling the TikTok trend "ridiculous." But Hager and Guthrie still had one more ex-girlfriend to reference, as Craig Melvin and Al Roker looked on in delight.
"What's the other one?" Guthrie asked, prompting Hager to quickly reply, "Tara Reid!"
"Oh my gosh, you didn't," Daly said. "Can I go? Can I leave now?"
And on that note, he began sheepishly backpedaling — while still sitting in his chair — away from the set and called it a day.
It was an unexpected trip down memory lane for Daly, who shares four children with his wife of ten years, Siri Pinter.
Jenna Bush Hager reveals one father-daughter moment she'll never forget
RELATED: Why Jenna Bush Hager "Started Weeping" After Dad George W. Bush Texted Her This
Sometimes, a simple message can change your perspective completely.
In February 2023, Hager told former TODAY co-host Hoda Kotb about the moment she'd "never forget" — when her dad, former president George W. Bush, got her out of a funk shortly after the birth of her first child, Mila.
"I'll never forget when I was working here, I was doing something and I was kind of frustrated because jobs can be frustrating. This business is kind of tricky and I was upset," Hager explained to her friend, adding that she had talked to her mom about what was bothering her the night before.
"So I got a text from my dad that was like, 'Mom tells me you're feeling kind of bummed out. Here's the thing, this is what matters.' And he just sent me a baby picture of Mila, I had just become a mom," she continued. "And I started weeping. I was like, 'He's totally right.'"
However, while that message left a lasting imprint on Hager, the infamous portrait her dad painted of her had far less of an impact on the star!
