Hoda Kotb has long been deemed Today‘s resident sex guru, so it came as no surprise when she opted to question Jenna Bush Hager on a recent episode about the “sexy nicknames” her and her husband use at home – even if it scandalized her co-host.
The co-hosts were discussing Nicole Kidman‘s upcoming erotic thriller Babygirl when they revealed that was what her husband, Keith Urban, used to call her. Kotb even gasped when she found out Urban even had the nickname tattooed on the back of his neck.
“I love it,” Bush Hager admitted. “You know I call Henry baby girl but I never say it to his face. And he doesn’t really watch our show so he doesn’t know that I call him baby girl. I just call him baby girl behind his back.”
“Does he have any sexy nicknames for you?” Kotb asked.
Bush Hager appeared a bit caught off-guard by the question as she replied, “Like darlin’ or babe.”
“No,” Kotb replied. “Anything else?”
“Gross!” Bush Hager responded to Kotb pressing her for juicier details. But Kotb explained that she was moreso asking if Bush Hager enjoys “a hot nickname.”
“Yeah, but baby girl is the same as darlin’,” Bush Hager responded, which Kotb outrightly disagreed with. “What is a sexy nickname people call you?” she then asked Kotb.
“I don’t have one,” Kotb admitted, prompting Bush Hager to press further and ask, “Back in the day, what was your sexy nickname?”
Kotb laughed. “What are you talking about? Don’t you like when someone says you look sexy? Doesn’t that feel good sometimes?” Kotb replied. When she saw Bush Hager’s reaction to her question, she assessed, “You don’t like it.”
“No, I like it,” Bush Hager responded. “It makes me uncomfortable.”
But Kotb guessed that Bush Hager was just becoming “uncomfortable” because of their in-studio guests. “You have friends in the studio and you’re embarrassed, that’s why,” she concluded.
This isn’t the first time Kotb has scandalized her Today co-host on the show. At one point, when Kotb launched into yet another passionate rant about kissing, Bush Hager said she had become the point-person on the show when it comes to sex.
“You know what I’m into, is that Hoda has become our sex guru, Hoda is taking on all the make-out material head on,” Bush Hager joked.
Today with Jenna and Hoda airs on weekdays at 10/9c on NBC.