Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager reacted to Ina Garten confessing that she briefly separated from her husband, Jeffrey Garten, in the 1970s.
Kotb, 60, recently did a sit-down interview with Ina, 76, who recalled telling her husband of 10 years at the time that she needed to “be on my own for a little while,” which Jeffrey, 77, agreed to.
“I felt I said the right thing but it was really scary because i said it to someone I really deeply loved,” Ina — who details the separation in her upcoming memoir, “Be Ready When the Luck Happens” — shared to Kotb.
On Wednesday’s “Today with Hoda and Jenna,” Kotb and Bush Hager, 42, commended the Food Network star for putting herself first in her marriage.
“It sounds like the root of what happened was he was used to a traditional wife role, and she was coming into her own creating her business,” Kotb said.
“She was pouring all her stuff into it and he was expecting what she was before, which was, ‘dinner’s here, I’ll talk care of the house,’ and all those things.”
Kotb went on, “I think it reminded me listening to her that when a couple grows, you have to let the other person grow, too, You hear people say, ‘you are not the girl I married.’ Well, the girl you married is different.”
“They kind of reintroduced themselves to each other and now they’ve got this rock-solid beautiful love story.”
Bush Hager added, “It shows that honesty, being completely transparent with yourself and with somebody else, even if it’s terribly scary. I am sure part of her wanted him to say, ‘No, we got to work this out. You don’t need to cook.’ But he was like, ‘OK.’”
The former first daughter also said Ina owned her “worth” when she chose to separate from Jeffrey for a time.
“She knew that she wanted something bigger than having the dinner on at five,” Bush Hager noted. “She was willing to stand up for herself and maybe lose him in order to make her dreams come true. Now look at her. And them.”
Kotb told her co-host she asked Ina why the first chapter of her memoir (out Oct. 1) is about Jeffrey, rather than her childhood.
The cook, Kotb said, told her, “My life started with Jeffrey.”
Ina and Jeffrey have been married since 1968.
In a recent interview with People, Ina explained the couple’s one-time separation was sparked by Ina feeling unsatisfied with her “role” in her marriage.
The “Barefoot Contessa” host said Jeffrey, now a Yale professor, “expected a wife that would make dinner.” But because her career was thriving, their dynamic shifted and Ina decided to ask Jeffrey if they could take time apart.
“I thought about it a lot, and at my lowest point, I wondered if the only answer would be to get a divorce,” she wrote in her book.
“I loved Jeffrey and didn’t want to shock — or hurt — him, so I’d start by suggesting we pause for a separation.”
“It was the hardest thing I ever did. I told him that I needed to be on my own. I didn’t say whether it was for now … or forever,” Ina added.
The famous chef said that after they saw a therapist and some time passed, she and Jeffrey were able to happily reconcile.
