'Today' Host Jenna Bush Hager Unrecognizable in Surprise Return for Halloween Episode

Jenna Bush Hager is currently on maternity leave after giving birth in August, but the host made a [...]

By Hannah Barnes

Jenna Bush Hager is currently on maternity leave after giving birth in August, but the host made a quick visit to the Today show on Thursday to help her co-workers celebrate Halloween.

Bush Hager arrived dressed as Baby from Dirty Dancing, wearing a light pink dress and heels and her hair in tight curls. Her co-host Willie Geist dressed as Johnny in black pants a black shirt, and the two did their best Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze impressions as they performed a quick dance, recreating the famous final performance from the 1989 film.

The duo did make one small change, with the camera cutting away from Bush Hager as she ran toward Geist and showing footage of Geist outside the studio lifting a mannequin into the air instead in homage to the movie's iconic lift scene.

"I left my baby just to be here with y'all because I love Halloween!" the 37-year-old told her fellow hosts, who were all dressed as other well-known dance-related figures.

Bush Hager and husband Henry Hager welcomed son Henry Harold "Hal" Hager on Aug. 2. Baby Henry joined two big sisters, Mila and Poppy.

"We weren't exactly sure about the name," the mom of three told Today after giving birth. "Then his big sisters called him 'Hal pal,' and we thought, 'This is just perfect.'"

"My whole family came," she added of her time in the hospital. "My sister came the first day with donuts, which I don't think you're supposed to eat right after a C-section, but I went for it. And then Mila and Poppy came and picked him out in the nursery, and they're just crazy about him. ... The girls are so thrilled that they have a little baby brother all of their own."

During her appearance on Thursday's show, Hoda Kotb, who co-hosts the show's fourth hour with Bush Hager, shared that her co-host will be making her official return on Nov. 11.

"I can't wait," Bush Hager said, explaining that the two women have actually hosted their show for just around one week total due to both of their maternity leaves. "This is the thing. We started the Hoda and Jenna show [without Kotb]. This is gonna be like a whole new start."

"I can't wait til you come back. I kept asking — I don't know how you felt when I was gone — but I do remember thinking, 'Oh my gosh, time flies by,'" Kotb added. "People kept asking on my book tour, like, 'Are y'all gonna get together and sit down?'"

Photo Credit: Getty / Sean Zanni

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