Hoda Kotb Calls Out Jenna Bush Hager for Suggesting Gayle King as Today Replacement: ‘My Seat Isn’t Even Cold Yet!’

Jenna Bush Hager is working through her conflicted emotions over Hoda Kotb’s upcoming Today show exit. 

During the Tuesday, Dec. 3 episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna, Bush Hager admitted that she was coping with her frustrations by teasing Kotb about journalist Gayle King, who is the NBC morning show’s competitor on CBS Mornings. 

Calling King, 69, her “bestie,” Bush Hager, 43, addressed Oprah Winfrey’s longtime pal, saying, “There’s a seat open.”

Kotb, 60, looked faux aghast, replying, “My seat isn’t even cold yet!”

Bush Hager didn’t let it drop, adding, “I know you have a job over at 60 Minutes and such, but Gayle & Jenna has a beautiful ring to it. I’m just kidding.”

Kotb said she “loved” King, jokingly adding, “Tell me more about how Gayle King is awesome, please.”

And the former first daughter kept the playful ribbing going while interviewing guest Mikey Day.

“Do you like Shaboozey?” Bush Hager she asked him of Saturday Night Live‘s upcoming music performer. “Gayle King loves Shaboozey.”

But Kotb was quick to call Bush Hager out, saying of her co-anchor, “Why do you? Do you hear what she’s trying to do? She’s shading me. She brings up Gayle King 10 times during our show.” 

Rather than denying it, Bush Hager fully admitted to her playful diss. “Today, that’s the anger I have,” she told Day, 44. “I have abandonment issues with her leaving, so today, Gayle King is the way I’m dealing with those.”

Kotb first shared the news in September that she planned to leave the Today show after 17 years in an effort to spend more time with her daughters Haley Joy, 7, and Hope Catherine, 4. Today with Hoda & Jenna will be renamed Today with Jenna & Friends as Bush Hager will be joined by guest cohosts until a more permanent replacement can be found. 

“It’s your turn,” Kotby previously told Bush Hager after announcing her departure. “Whoever sits in this seat is going to have the easiest job in the world because they’re sitting next to you.”

As for Kotb’s role on the Today morning newsdesk, Craig Melvin will be replacing the mother of two alongside Savannah Guthrie come Jan. 13, 2025. A source previously told PEOPLE that the selection was a popular one in the Today family. 

“Everybody on the set cheered when the announcement was made,” the insider said. “The whole staff loves him.”

When it comes to Kotb’s post-Today plans, the longtime morning show host said she is looking forward to hitting the snooze button… sort of.  “I’m used to getting up at 3:00,” Hoda told PEOPLE. “So I’m sleeping in. I’m going to go to a 5:30 SoulCycle.”

Today with Hoda & Jenna airs weekdays (10 a.m. ET) on NBC.