Heavy/Getty/Hallmark The "Today Show" cast loved watching the "Holiday Touchdown" trailer with Donna Kelce and colleague Jenna Bush Hager
The cast of NBC’s “Today Show” was full of questions and compliments on November 14, 2024, after premiering the new trailer for Hallmark Channel’s highly anticipated Christmas movie, “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story.”
Sitting on the morning show’s couch with NFL mom Donna Kelce, who has her first acting role in the movie, the “Today Show” cast, including Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie, watched the trailer together and exclaimed in unison at the end, “Wow!” Clearly impressed, a wide-eyed Kotb uttered, “What!?”
Also on the couch was their colleague Jenna Hager Bush, who makes her acting debut in the movie, too. Though millions are expected to tune in for the “Holiday Touchdown” premiere on November 30, she told Kelce there’s one person she’s really hoping tunes in for their appearances: her son Travis Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift.
Donna Kelce Says She ‘Probably’ Won’t Keep Acting After Her 2 Hallmark Movies
“Holiday Touchdown,” which Kansas City-based Hallmark created in partnership with the Kansas City Chiefs, features an all-star cast including Hallmark heartthrob Tyler Hynes and Hunter King, as well as multiple celebrity cameos, including Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and his wife, Kelce said.
Footage of Bush Hager and Kelce, who raised two NFL players — Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and newly retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce — was included in the trailer that debuted during the “Today Show.”
“I can’t believe we made the trailer,” Bush Hager told Kelce, who replied, “I know, that’s really wild!”
“We should just say that both of our parts are brief,” Bush Hager laughed.
While Kelce plays the manager of a Kansas City BBQ restaurant, Bush Hager plays a sports journalist who interviews multiple real-life Chiefs players in the movie. She said she called colleague Craig Melvin’s wife, sportscaster Lindsay Czarniak, “for some inspiration.”
Melvin, who was officially named as Kotb’s anchor desk replacement earlier that morning given her decision to leave the show at the end of 2024, asked Kelce if she’d “caught the acting bug” and whether they’ll see her in additional roles.
“Probably not,” Kelce smirked, but noted that she also appears in Hallmark’s “Christmas On Call,” another Hallmark Channel movie starring Sara Canning and Ser’Darius Blain. The romcom, which premieres on November 22, centers around first responders in Philadelphia, which allows Kelce to show allegiance to both of her sons’ teams.
“You’re in that too?” Bush Hager gasped. “You’re in two Christmas movies? Wow!”
Jenna Bush Hager is Hoping Taylor Swift Watches Her Movie Debut
Given that Travis Kelce has been dating Taylor Swift since the summer of 2023, the “Today Show” anchors tried to get information out of Donna Kelce about the pop star. Guthrie, Kotb and Bush Hager are big fans and took their kids to one of Swift’s Miami shows on October 18.
“Has Taylor asked about any of us?” Guthrie asked, to which Kelce deadpanned, “Oh, of course.”
She then laughed when Kotb chimed in, “Yeah, did she see us at her concert?”
“Is Taylor gonna watch our love story?” Bush Hager asked, hoping Swift might tune in for their movie debut.
Kelce replied, “I don’t know! That’s a good question!”
As her “Today Show” colleagues laughed, Bush Hager said, “Let’s ask her!”
It doesn’t sound like Kelce will be with Swift on Thanksgiving to prod her to watch her movie the following weekend. In a later segment on the “Today Show,” she demonstrated one of her family’s favorite holiday recipes — a 1969 Pillsbury Bake-Off winner called Magic Marshmallow Crescent Puffs — and talked about her Thanksgiving plans.
She told Melvin “nothing” has been planned for a family dinner, explaining, “I am going to be at a football game. Travis is playing the day after Thanksgiving. You know, football is always the holidays. It’s football’s family.”
As for whether Swift might be with her on Thanksgiving, Kelce said, “I don’t think so. She’s kinda busy right now. She still has her tour to do.”
Swift’s Eras Tour kicks of its final leg in Canada with six shows in Toronto beginning on November 13 and three early December concerts in Vancouver, per Deadline.
Liv Lane is an entertainment writer who covers the Hallmark Channel, HGTV, American Idol and The Voice for Heavy. Based in Minneapolis, she has three decades of experience as a local and national radio host, columnist and publicist, interviewing and working with a wide range of celebrities over the years, from Deepak Chopra to Lil Nas X. More about Liv Lane