Jenna Bush Hager Claims NBC Banned Her From Using 1 Phrase on ‘Today’ Show

THE Today the hosts reveal the rules they follow on air.

In the December 2 episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna, Hoda Kotb And Jenna Bush Hager common how they had to change when they joined NBC. Bush Hager, who started as a correspondent in 2009, said there was a phrase the network banned him from using at the time.

“(They were like) ‘Hey, y’all,’ this isn’t for the whole country,'” she said. “And I was like, ‘Well, but this is who I am.’ It’s so weird, and it happens in life too. If you have friends and all of a sudden you’re not acting like you are and you’re like, “Wait,” something in your gut is wrong.

“When they told me, ‘You can’t all say it,’ in my gut I said to myself, ‘But why? We have to pretend to be news people?’ Bush Hager said. ‘Because every time you pretend to be a journalist, I feel like you’re acting. And we all know about (our Titanic Halloween sketch), I’m not a great actor. When you try to pretend you’re someone else, it’s crazy.

The rules for working in news would also extend to their appearance. Kotb said it was like being told, “Welcome, but you have to change.”

“If you’re not your size, they want you to wear something a certain way, cut your hair a certain way, talk a certain way,” he said. she said, referring to being an on-air host.

She went on to explain that she and Bush Hager later let go of the pressure on that front, which can make someone feel like they’re “losing who you are.” Still, she said it took “a long time.”

“It took me longer than, I think, it took you,” Kotb, who has worked for NBC since 1998, when she was a teacher. Data line correspondent, Hager told Bush.

Never miss a story: subscribe to PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

December marks Kotb’s last full month Today after her announced its release of the September morning talk show. Kotb has been a co-host for 17 years and shared the news in a letter to NBC and then on air surrounded by her colleagues. Al Roker, Craig Melvin, Savannah GuthrieBush Hager and Sheinelle Jones.

“I had my children later in life and I thought they deserved a bigger share of my time than I did,” she explained. “I feel like we only have a limited amount of time. And so, with all that being said, it’s the hardest thing in the world.

“I’m going to be here until the first of the year – after the first of the year – and I’m going to stay in the NBC family, but this is a big deal for me,” she continued through tears .

Bush Hager then made everyone laugh by saying, “It’s not over. I’m going to show up at your house like the stalker you are. Zac Brown. I will be there at your door. And we are your friends forever.