Jenna Bush Hager wanted to “hide” when her grandma Barbara Bush body-shamed her as a teenager.
The former first daughter was wearing a yellow bikini when her grandparent stated she was “looking chubby,” Bush Hager recently told “Today” show viewers.
The journalist clarified last week that she “adored” her family member, who died in 2018, despite her “biting personality.”
The former first lady apologized to her granddaughter years after the comment, explaining to Bush Hager that she had been “talking to [herself]” since her own mother, Pauline Pierce, “said those types of things” to her growing up.
“Her mother always thought of her sister as the really beautiful one and would say it,” Bush Hager said. “‘Martha’s the pretty one. You’re the funny one. You’re the smart one.’”
After the apology, Bush Hager still didn’t “wear a bikini for years” — until donning a two-piece bathing suit in 2022.
“After having three kids, three C-sections, [I did it],” the former teacher, who shares daughters Mila, 9, and Poppy, 7, and son Hal, 3, with her husband, Henry Hager, said.
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Bush Hager has spoken candidly about her body image in the past, telling NBC viewers in January 2016 that she stumbled upon one of her childhood New Year’s resolutions to lose four pounds.
“It broke my heart,” the “Everything Beautiful in Its Time” author said, declaring that she planned to stop setting weight-loss goals.
Bush Hager clarified at the time that her mom, Laura Bush, never put pressure on her to slim down.
Her co-host, Hoda Kotb, echoed a similar sentiment on last week’s show.
The former “Dateline” correspondent said that her mom, Sameha Kotb, “never cared about” her bikini body and still rocks two-pieces.
Hoda explained, “She goes, ‘Of course, I need sun.’”
