Jenna Bush Hager is shocked after Willie Geist lets slip a detail about his wife on air: ‘I’m texting Savannah after this’

Jenna Bush Hager seemed playfully offended by Willie Geist’s confession about his wife Christina

NEED TO KNOW

  • Willie Geist revealed his wife hosts a weekly mahjong night, surprising co-host Jenna Bush Hager on air
  • Bush Hager reminded Geist she introduced his wife to mahjong and teased him for not inviting her
  • Savannah Guthrie and her mother previously bonded over mahjong, sharing its significance on a Today show segment in 2025

Willie Geist accidentally broke girl code on Friday, Aug. 7.

While guest co-hosting Today with Jenna & Sheinelle, Geist mentioned that his wife and childhood sweetheart, Christina, plays mahjong at their house weekly with a group of friends.

“What? Wait … excuse me?” co-host and friend Jenna Bush Hager asked, interrupting him with a shocked expression.

Realizing his mistake, Geist tried to cover it up, saying, “It’s local, so far. We haven’t expanded out.”

However, Bush Hager wasn’t having it, replying, “Uh, I live within a 20-minute radius!”

Continuing to backpedal, Geist assured Bush Hager that she was invited if she was interested in attending the weekly gathering.

Using Christina’s nickname, Bush Hager directly addressed her longtime friend, saying, “Teeny? Teeny, I’d like to just say, who introduced you to mahjong? It was me! Who taught you the Charleston and such? Call me!”

She then told Geist he “slipped that out,” and he agreed, saying, “Yeah, I couldn’t get it back.”

Trying to stay on topic, he continued, calling the event a “big social night,” as Bush Hager widened her eyes, asking, “Oh? How big is this?”

But by this point, Geist decided to lean into the joke, teasing, “There are hundreds of women! She doesn’t even know most of them. It’s just an open invite. She puts it on social media. No, no, no.”

Bush Hager threatened to reach out to her friend and fellow mahjong enthusiast, Savannah Guthrie.

“I’m gonna text Savannah right after this. I’m glad my phone ringer’s on,” she teased.

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Bush Hager and Guthrie did a segment on the Today show about the traditional Chinese game in August 2025. At the time, Savannah’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, even contributed to the segment, sharing a video of her own original mahjong set that her late husband, Charles Guthrie, brought her from Singapore.

“It’s been such a fun bonding thing because my mom, so when I went to see her a couple month ago in Arizona, she invited her mahjong ladies over and we all played and we had a great time,” Savannah said at the time. “And now my mom is teaching some of the younger girls in her world how to do mahjong.”

Nancy, 84, has now been missing for six months, and the investigation into her disappearance remains active and ongoing. Savannah wrote on Instagram Aug. 1, “We are begging for help. We are desperate. We need someone to come forward. Someone knows something. … We will never stop looking for answers – and we will never stop looking for the light. We will always be hoping and praying and believing in the best of our world – in spite of circumstance.”

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