Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotb bonded over the “embarrassing” diary entries they wrote as teenagers on Wednesday’s (April 26) episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna.
Speaking to Amy Poehler, Hager recalled one particularly embarrassing diary entry that made the trio laugh. “I also had a looking at myself in the mirror and hoping I’d be able to save my virginity post,” Hager admitted.
She continued with a shrug, “I was just worried in ninth grade that I wouldn’t have the wherewithal to hold it, you know?”
“Your journals were like, ‘You can do it, you can hold it, hang in there, you’re so close!'” Poehler joked.
Poehler and Kotb did not hold their laughter back as Hager recounted the “embarrassing” diary entries she used to write about her virginity. Hager joked that she used to ask herself, “What if you’re not able to do it, Jenna?”
The trio landed on the topic after discussing Poehler’s upcoming Peacock series, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, in which eight guests are given the chance to reorganize their lives and come to terms with their mortality “before it’s too late.” According to the show’s description, “Swedish Death Cleaning normalizes one of our worst fears, death, by reminding us of all the ways we are alive.”
Poehler explained that she was a fan of organization and sometimes thought about keeping the “special things that should be thrown away,” such as diaries or journals from her youth, in a box to be discarded after she passes.
“It’s really sweet because when you read your old journal you’re like, ‘Wow this was a really big deal, and I don’t even remember it,'” she said. “So I want to be tender to that person, but it is super embarrassing.”
Poehler’s series The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning premieres this Thursday, April 27, on Peacock.
Today with Hoda & Jenna airs on weekdays at 10/9c on NBC.