Witherspoon herself has three kids and urged Bush Hager not to have a third of her own

Reese Witherspoon and Jenna Bush Hager on Jenna and Friends

From Left: Jenna Bush Hager and Reese Witherspoon on ‘Today with Jenna & Friends’.Credit : NBC

NEED TO KNOW

Jenna Bush Hager recalled how Reese Witherspoon warned her not to have a third child
Both stars now have three kids and discussed Witherspoon advising Bush Hager against the decision when she already had a third kid
Witherspoon’s concern surrounded the idea of having three teenagers at once

Reese Witherspoon can’t really fault Jenna Bush Hager for not following her parenting advice because she didn’t follow it either.

Witherspoon, 49, is mom to three kids — Ava, 26, Deacon, 21, and Tennessee, 13 — but when Bush Hager, 43, interviewed her years ago, she was against the idea of the TV personality having a third child.

“You may not remember this, but I once interviewed you and I told you I was maybe going to have a third baby,” Bush Hager reminded Witherspoon on Today with Jenna & Friends on Tuesday, Oct. 14. “And you were like, ‘You can’t do that.’ And I’m like, ‘You have three children!’ ”

Reese Witherspoon on Jenna and Friends

Reese Witherspoon on ‘Today with Jenna & Friends’ on Oct. 14, 2025.NBC

The Morning Show star said that her first reaction to Bush Hager’s desire to have a third kid was “Why?”

Bush Hager said that Witherspoon warned her that she’d one day have “three teenagers” if she tried for a third kid.

“I said, ‘One day there will be three teenagers.’ Oh my God, that’s such good advice, why didn’t you listen to me?!” Witherspoon asked Bush Hager, who laughed and replied, “I don’t know. But why didn’t you listen to yourself?”

Reese Witherspoon with her kids on Mother's Day

Reese Witherspoon (right) with kids Ava, Tennessee, and Deacon.Reese Witherspoon/Instagram

Witherspoon quipped that her decision to have three kids was “clearly insanity.” She joked, “I’ve been really lucky. I feel so blessed and tired, so, so, so, so tired.”

The Oscar winner shares Ava and Deacon with her ex Ryan Phillippe and son Tennessee with her ex Jim Toth.

As for how she prepares her son Tennessee to be a teenager navigating the world of social media, Witherspoon said it’s a collaborative effort. “You have to have a strategy,” she said. “You have to work with your coparenting partners and your extended family and your schools to make sure we’re doing what’s right for their mental health.”

Jenna Bush Hager Easter pictures

Jenna Bush Hager and husband Henry Hager (right) with kids Mila, Poppy and Hal.Jenna Bush Hager/Instagram

As for Bush Hager, she and husband Henry Hager share three kids — daughters Mila, 12, Poppy, 10, and son Hal, 6.

She’s previously opened up about three being the “perfect” number of kids for their household. “I’m pretty sure I’ve come to terms that three, even though it’s an imperfect number, is the perfect number for our house,” she told Savannah Guthrie on the show in March.