On Tuesday's edition of NBC's TODAY show's fourth hour program, TODAY with Jenna & Friends, host Jenna Bush Hager opened up about one of her insecurities about her body and what prompted it.
Speaking with TODAY show anchor Savannah Guthrie, the pair discussed a new fashion trend labeled "diaper shorts." Guthrie remarked Bush Hager was actually wearing shorts.
After some banter, the hosts looked at images of stars embracing the diaper short trend.
Bush Hager then asked Guthrie:
"Would you wear these shorts?"
Guthrie responded:
"I would not. First of all, I don’t think there was ever a time I could wear those. Certainly this is not that time anymore."
"There is like a point where gravity takes hold of your legs and everything and it's all just headed in one direction."
Bush Hager then shared:
"I don't know if I've ever told you this, but I had a boyfriend in the 7th grade who once broke up with––I have a birthmark, which you've seen."
Guthrie acknowledged she had seen the birthmark.
Bush Hager continued:
"You've seen me in all sorts of areas, and I had a boyfriend who broke up with me in the 7th grade when he saw me in a bathing suit because of my birthmark."
You can watch the segment here:
Guthrie interjected:
"That is outrageous!"
Bush Hager confided the incident shook her confidence so much she changed how she dressed because of it.
"I had a rule where the short had to cover, like, basically the birthmark."
Guthrie asked if Bush Hager had ever opened up about her insecurity over her birthmark before. When she responded she wasn't sure anybody had seen it, Guthrie told her:
"This would be the day."
Bush Hager initially said no, but then got up from her seat and asked those in the studio:
"Do y'all want to see it?"
She then quipped:
"This is actually me reclaiming that time."
She then raised the hem of her shorts to reveal what is commonly referred to as a café-au-lait spot birthmark about the size of her palm on her outer right thigh. Cafe-au-lait spots are light to dark brown patches that people are born with that can be anywhere on the body.
People were supportive of Bush Hager's honesty and vulnerability about her insecurities.
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Jenna Bush Hager, along with her twin sister Barbara Pierce Bush, was only a child when her grandfather, George H. W. Bush, became President, thrusting her family into the spotlight. The sisters were 19 when their father, George W. Bush, became President.
Bush Hager has spoken before about the pressures of being a young woman in college and a First Daughter, but praised her parents for allowing her to make mistakes instead of demanding she maintain a perfect image.
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