Jenna Bush Hager suffers wardrobe mishap on-air: ‘What just happened?’

The Today Show host attempted to split the G in honor of St. Patrick’s Day

It appears that the spirit of St. Patrick didn’t come to the rescue for Jenna Bush Hager this St. Patrick’s Day.

In honor of the Irish holiday, the Today Show host kicked off the March 17 installment of Today with Jenna & Friends by drinking a Guinness, the beloved stout from Dublin, along with her co-host of the day Willie Geist.

But as she attempted to take on the tradition (and recent viral TikTok trend) of “splitting the G,” she was instead left with a bit of a sticky mess.

The episode started with a video of none other than Mullingar native Niall Horan explaining the concept of splitting the G, yubi where Guinness drinkers are challenged to drink just enough beer on their first go so the top of the drink lands right in the middle of the Guinness G from the glass’ logo.

Jenna, who was wearing a pretty emerald green dress, yubi kicked things off by announcing: “Make my mom proud, Laura this is for you.”

And while she started off with a big, determined gulp, the signature foam and dark liquid eventually escaped the glass and splashed on her dress. Jenna however took the moment in stride, and joked: “I didn’t even make it!”

Still from Today with Jenna & Friends featuring Jenna Bush Hager and Willie Geist learning about the tradition of "splitting the G" when drinking a Guinness© NBC
Jenna and Willie were befuddled over how to make the challenge work

“Does anyone have a mop? Or a tarp we could put down?” Willie wondered,” as Jenna, laughing, simply asked: “What just happened?”

“My body couldn’t take it. My body just rejected that,” she continued, adding: “Unfortunately I ruined my nice green dress,” and that she thought she had “all the nice beer moves saved up.”

Still from Today with Jenna & Friends featuring Jenna Bush Hager trying the tradition of "splitting the G" when drinking a Guinness in honor of St. Patrick's Day© NBC
The Today anchor was determined to land the G

Next up was Willie, who luckily pulled it off mess-free, though he was just a sip shy of having the beer land right in the middle of the G.

TODAY -- Pictured: Jenna Bush Hager and Scarlett Johansson on Thursday, January 23 2025© Getty Images
In January 4th Hour rebranded to Jenna & Friends

Jenna, still in disbelief, then noted: “I just can’t believe someone could actually do that, that’s shocking to me,” and Willie joked back: “This is shocking to me, what I just witnessed.”

In another photo, Jenna was pictured in a striped summer dress as she posed with her husband and children © Instagram
Jenna with her husband Henry Hager and three children

The former first daughter has spent the beginning of the year adjusting to her show’s new format, which rebranded from 4th Hour with Hoda & Jenna to Today with Jenna in the wake of Hoda Kotb’s departure.

And instead of replacing the former NBC mainstay, Jenna has instead been featuring a revolving door of guest co-hosts, such as Scarlett Johansson, Justin Sylvester, Hannah McMahon, Keke Palmer and Taraji P. Henson.