Jenna Bush Hager tearfully called her father, former President George W. Bush, to tell him that Hoda Kotb was leaving the “Today” show after 26 years at NBC.

The co-hosts addressed Kotb’s shocking announcement on Thursday’s episode of “Today With Hoda and Jenna,” when they discussed a full-circle moment with the former president.

“I don’t know if you’re embarrassed to say this or not, but I think we (need to talk about how) you called your dad. And I remember when you first started working with me, you were scared, so she called her dad,” Kotb recalled, referring to Bush Hager who landed the co-hosting gig in 2019.

Bush Hager then recalled that while he was “happy” she had done the job five years ago, he playfully reminded her that “Hoda is the star.”

“Then I called him last night. At first he thought something really bad had happened, like I had lost a loved one, because I was so emotional,” she said. “And then he said, ‘Oh, she’s leaving, because it’s time, and you’re going to be okay. It’s your turn. It’s okay.'”

Kotb, who was also crying, stood up and clapped for the 42-year-old woman, assuring her that the former politician was right.

“It’s your turn. It’s your turn! And whoever’s sitting in this chair, they’re going to have the easiest job in the world because they’re sitting right next to you. I mean, all they have to do is not laugh so hard they pee their pants –– that’s it. All they have to do is hang in there, that’s all. You’re this bright light. You always have been, and now it’s your turn,” Kotb, 60, praised.

The co-hosts had an emotional episode as they both broke down in tears while discussing Kotb’s shocking announcement that she will be leaving both the “Today” show and “Today With Hoda and Jenna” in early 2025.

“Saying goodbye to something that great is hard,” Kotb said, tearfully. “It weighed on me. I was going back and forth and back and forth, and then I thought to myself, ‘You know, I think I need to pick this decade for myself.’”

Bush Hager explained at the time that she had a “crazy” reaction after Kotb told her the “bittersweet” news “just a few days ago.”

“I said, ‘No! You can’t leave, because what we have here, with all these people?'” she said through tears. “It’s magical and powerful and it feels like it here, and you’re the one I come to when I’m feeling happy, when I’m feeling insecure, you’re the one I come to, and you believed in me first.”

Kotb excitedly said their five years together were “one in a million,” but she’s taking a step back to focus on herself and continue raising her two adopted daughters, Haley, 7, and Hope, 4.

The longtime host surprised her fans when she announced she was leaving the Today show family after 26 years at NBC.

“I decided this was the right time to move on. And with all that said, this is the hardest thing in the world. I won’t be here past the first day of the year. I’m going to stay in the NBC family, but it’s a pretty big deal to me,” she said through tears as she sat next to Bush Hager, Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones, Craig Melvin and her “Today” show co-host, Savannah Guthrie.

Before she went public with her decision, a source told Page Six that she wanted to take a step back and enjoy life in the suburbs with her daughters.

“It’s heartbreaking for everyone, but Hoda wants to be able to send her kids to school,” the insider said, while assuring us she will remain on the show in “some capacity.”

Kotb broke the news to viewers during the second hour of “Today,” but also wrote a heartfelt letter to staff earlier in the morning.

“As I write this, my heart is in overdrive. I know I’m making the right decision, but it’s a painful one. And you are all the reason for that,” she wrote in the letter, obtained by Page Six.

Kotb called Guthrie her “rock,” Bush Hager her “ride-or-die,” and Roker her “longest friend at 30 Rock.”

Kotb began her time at NBC as a correspondent for “Dateline NBC” before co-hosting “Today With Hoda and Kathie Lee” with Kathie Lee Gifford. When Gifford retired in 2019, her spot was taken by Bush Hager.

She has since co-hosted the Today show with Savannah Guthrie since Matt Lauer was fired in 2017 for alleged sexual misconduct.