‘Today Show’ Host Among Stars Joining Hallmark Christmas Movie Cast

Heavy/Getty Carson Daly, Al Roker, Jenna Bush Hager, Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Dylan Dreyer, Sheinelle Jones and Willie Geist attend the 70th anniversary celebration of NBC's "Today" at The Paley Center for Media on May 11, 2022 in New York City

When Hallmark Channel premieres its Kansas City Chiefs-inspired movie during its 2024 Countdown to Christmas programming stunt, Tyler Hynes and Hunter King won’t be the only stars on the screen.

“Today Show” host Jenna Bush Hager revealed on July 11, 2024, that she has landed her first acting role in “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story.” On the same day, Hallmark executives revealed others who have joined the cast, including several Super Bowl-winning stars from the Chiefs.

Jenna Bush Hager Says Her Hallmark Movie Role is ‘Top Secret’

During the third hour of the NBC morning show on July 11, as cast sat together on the studio couch, co-host Sheinelle Jones announced that they had the exclusive on the newest cast member to join the buzzed-about Hallmark movie.

Bush Hager, co-host of “Today With Hoda & Jenna,” walked out in a Chiefs jersey — with star tight end Travis Kelce’s number 87 on it — and a Santa hat as her colleagues cheered.

“Here’s the script, but it’s top secret,” she exclaimed, and then admitted she originally thought the movie was about Kelce and Taylor Swift’s year-long romance.

“First of all, I thought it was about Taylor and Travis,” Bush Hager said as she sat down on the couch and then made her colleagues laugh by saying. “I thought I got the Taylor role, but I didn’t! Shocker.”

When Jones asked Bush Hager, 42, to tell them about her role, she said, “I can’t tell you anything about my role,” and then described the movie’s premise.

“It’s a super fan who falls in love with a man that works for the team,” she told them. “It’s Hallmark. Let’s think football. Let’s think Christmas…in July.”

Jenna Bush Hager is Not the 1st ‘Today Show’ Host to Appear in a Hallmark Movie

After confirming that Bush Hager has a speaking part, Savannah Guthrie asked if she’ll have to memorize “a lot of stuff,” and Bush Hager told her, “Now a lot is a — now again, I thought I was Taylor, that isn’t happening — (so) a lot is kind of an exaggeration.”

When Craig Melvin asked if she’ll have any romantic scenes, Bush Hager winked at the camera and laughed, “With me? Maybe!”

Bush Hager said she’s “flying down soon” to Kansas City, where the movie just began filming. According to a local casting call for extras, filming is scheduled from July 6 to 27.

“Do y’all think I’ve turned into Kathie Lee?” Bush Hager asked her colleagues, who laughed at the comparison, since her predecessor on the show, Kathie Lee Gifford, co-starred with Kimberley Sustad and Paul Campbell in two Hallmark movies — 2018’s “A Godwink Christmas” and 2019’s “A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love.”

Bush Hager said she had to audition for her role and that “this is what I’ve always dreamed of.” Her colleagues showered her with praise and encouragement, including longtime meteorologist Al Roker, who has also appeared on Hallmark.

Roker’s book “Morning Show Mysteries” book series was turned into a Hallmark Mystery franchise starring Holly Robinson Peete, and Roker not only produced the franchise’s six movies but appeared in some of them, too, per IMDb.

Travis Kelce is Not Confirmed to Appear in ‘Holiday Touchdown,’ But Other Chiefs Stars Already Are

GettyTyler Hynes, Hunter King, Ed Begley Jr. and Diedrich Bader attend Hallmark Media’s session during the Summer 2024 Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, California, on July 11, 2024.

When Roker asked Bush Hager whether Kelce will appear in the upcoming Chiefs movie, she stuttered and then insisted, “I don’t know!”

At the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour on July 11, Daily Beast reporter Kevin Fallon wrote that when he asked Lara Krug, the Chiefs’ vice president and chief marketing officer, whether Kelce would be making an appearance, she smiled “mischievously” and said, “I have not had a direct conversation, but he is a huge fan of the brand.”

While neither Kelce or star quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been confirmed as participants in the movie, Hallmark Media executives did confirm during a TCA panel, according to Kansas City’s FOX4, that Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, offensive guard Trey Smith, receiver Mecole Hardman Jr., running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and defensive end George Karlaftis have all signed on to be in the movie. Other appearances from within the Chiefs organization are expected to be announced later, the outlet said.

In addition to already-announced co-star Ed Begley Jr., Hallmark Media also announced other “Holiday Touchdown” cast members at TCA, per FOX4. Eleven-year-old Chiefs fan and red carpet correspondent Taylen Biggs will have a role, and other cast members include Christine Ebersole, Megyn Price, Diedrich Bader, and Richard Riehle.