Sheinelle Jones Admits She’s ‘Never Held a Cat’ After Jenna Bush Hager Brings Her Pet to ‘Today’

There’s a new star on morning TV, and she has four paws and plenty of fluff.

Jenna Bush Hager‘s cat, Maisie, made her Today with Jenna & Sheinelle debut on Thursday, October 29, in honor of National Cat Day. The furry guest also helped cohost Sheinelle Jones check off a surprising first.

“If you’ve been watching the show, you may have noticed Jenna’s love of cats,” Jones, 48, told viewers before a supercut of Bush Hager gushing about her pets. “Would you like to meet one of Jenna’s furry children?”

Bush Hager, 44, then appeared wearing a pink and red sweatshirt with a special zipper pocket for carrying Maisie.

Before the big reveal Jones asked, “Should I tell everybody that I just took a Zyrtec?” Bush Hager said she had too, given her own cat allergy.

Once Maisie was out of her pouch, Bush Hager cradled her like a baby, and Jones said she looked like a stuffed animal. When Jones asked for a turn, she made a confession that surprised her cohost.

“I host a nature show on Saturday mornings and I love animals. I just never held a cat,” she said.

As the handoff began, Jones froze. “Wait, what do I do?” she asked.

After Bush Hager told her to hold the kitty like a baby, Jones wondered, “Will she sense my energy?” Moments later, she was beaming as she snuggled “God’s little creature” and declared that cats aren’t so bad, per the outlet.

Bush Hager then let Maisie wander, since she was on the show’s guest list. “Let’s not open the doors, but let’s just let Maisie do what she wants to do while we have our chat,” she said on the morning show.

Did the cuddle session make Jones a cat lover? “Uh, no,” she confessed.

Bush Hager’s love of cats goes way back. In January 2024, she opened up on Today about growing up with the family cat, Dewey, named after the Dewey Decimal System by her mom, former first lady Laura Bush, a onetime librarian, Entertainment Weekly reported.

“So from the time we were born, we had a cat,” she said at the time, the outlet reported. “I would just sit there, sucking my thumb with my eyes swollen shut because I’m highly allergic, but I don’t care.”

This story Sheinelle Jones Admits She’s ‘Never Held a Cat’ After Jenna Bush Hager Brings Her Pet to ‘Today’ first appeared on First for Women. Follow First for Women on Yahoo so you don’t miss what’s coming next.