Willie Geist, who has officially been crowned “morning TV’s boyfriend,” better get used to the new attention Today With Jenna & Friends is bringing him.
The Sunday TODAY anchor joined Jenna Bush Hager for Tuesday’s broadcast of the show, where he commented on “how fun” it has been to guest host.
“I know we’re not solving the world’s problems, but come and laugh with us for a little. We have beer games, we spit out Guinness everywhere, who knows what can happen?” Bush Hager added. She then reminded Geist that one of her recent guest hosts admitted to having a “work crush” on him after meeting him at the studio.
“Remember when Heather McMahan was on a couple weeks ago and she professed her love to you?” she asked.
Geist confessed he was “surprised” by his wife’s reaction to hearing the news.
“I heard about that and I was surprised how OK my wife Christina was with that,” he replied. “She said, ‘Oh, I love her! That’s fine.'”
Bush Hager then revealed Geist’s wife also texted her. “She said, ‘I’m used to it, everybody loves Willie. Don’t worry,” Bush Hager shared. “And she said, ‘Heather’s so funny, I don’t really care.’ But the truth is Christina’s one of the funniest people, too.”
McMahan was very vocal about her “work crush” on Geist during her time on Today. And it was made even more evident when the Today With Jenna & Friends social media account shared a hilarious video of McMahan and Geist running into each other in the dressing room.
“You look so good in blue. I don’t even have my[self and] everything ready,” McMahan told the Today host in the video. “Oh, my God. I’m wearing my slippers, stop.” Geist then jokingly asked McMahan if they’re “an item,” to which McMahan replied, “Yeah, we kinda are.”
Bush Hager then told the love birds she got the all-clear from Geist’s wife.
“By the way, to be clear, I heard from his wife, she’s OK,” she said. “She’s like, ‘As long as I can go to the Beacon Theatre.’ I’m like, ‘I got you tickets.’” Geist also confirmed his wife was “on board.”
Today fans seemed to agree as that video spurred Bush Hager to tell Geist next time he was on the show, “You really lit the internet on fire last week… our team has now pegged you morning TV’s boyfriend.”
After admitting it made him “very uncomfortable,” Geist said, “I don’t even quite know what it means to be morning TV’s boyfriend… I’m on six to noon most days, so I guess I do occupy the morning. I guess it’s an honor to be in the company of Pedro Pascal.”
Geist’s time on Today With Jenna & Friends this week is up as Brooke Shields is set to join Bush Hager on the show for the rest of the week. Geist will surely return to the show to guest host, however, as he’s been regularly appearing since Today With Jenna & Friends launched in January.
Today with Jenna & Friends airs on weekdays at 10/9c on NBC.