NBC ‘makeover’ all for show?
BREAKING news out of Studio 1A: The beleaguered “Today” show dressing rooms are finally getting a makeover.
“We are [upgrading them]!” Hoda Kotb revealed to Page Six exclusively at the fifth anniversary celebration of her co-host Jenna Bush Hager’s book club, Read With Jenna, at Bibliotheque on Thursday.
“We have four words for you: lipstick on a pig,” Bush Hager jokingly chimed in. “Just some wallpaper, some nice fake flowers.”
The NBC show’s dressing rooms came under scrutiny two weeks ago when we exclusively reported Kelly Rowland walked off the set because hers was not up to par. The former Destiny’s Child member left producers scrambling, as she had been expected to fill in as a guest host of “Today With Hoda & Jenna.”
After Rowland, 43, unceremoniously left, Rita Ora stepped in at the last minute.
Kotb, 59, and Bush Hager, 42, compared notes about their “closets” for The Post’s Nicki Gostin. Some of the plans for sprucing up the backstage quarters include “fresh paint,” Kotb shared. “We’re going to add some new furniture and decorations and snacks. Maybe a mini fridge!”
Bush Hager noted that the show recently hosted Kate Winslet before acknowledging, “I know she was in one of those closets.” As for her own office, the anchor shared it’s “one of those closets that they nicely cleaned out for me to be in.”
Kotb said Bush Hager is lucky, having previously shared “that closet” with Tamron Hall, and in fact, “we were both in it!” The longtime pals argued that the cozy dimensions of the dressing rooms add charm to the “Today” show.
“We’re on the set,” Kotb explained. “No one is pretentious, and we’re like, ‘Welcome! Here’s a hug. Come sit on our couch.’ ”
Bush Hager seconded the sentiment, telling us, “We feel like it’s a warm place to come, and we hear from people, ‘We love being here!’ It’s New York City — everywhere we live is small!”