Brooke Shields has been well connected from the time she was a young girl—so much so, that she forged relationship with the Bush family in the ’80s, which later led to an uncomfortable moment of her seeing former first lady Barbara Bush in her nightgown.

Shields was the latest host for the Thursday, March 20, episode of Today with Jenna and Friends. The 59-year-old reflected on the nightgown incident to host Jenna Bush Hager, as well as her other experiences with Bush Hager’s late grandparents, President George H.W. Bush and Barbara.

“I met your grandparents in the ‘80s. I was so young,” Shields recalled. “I was invited to the White House for Easterseals…I never had a grandfather, so since I was quite young, he would give me boy advice and say, ‘Okay, I like that one. I don’t like this one.’ It was a very sweet relationship that I needed to have and hadn’t had with anyone else.”

Shields’s relationship with the Bush family continued into adulthood, after becoming a mother to her two daughters—an adult Shields was later invited to the Bush family’s property in Kennebunkport, Maine to stay, but the visit ended up taking a dramatic turn. “I sneak downstairs to do the puzzle, go get a beer, and as I get a beer, water is flooding into the living room from the ocean, from over the rocks,” the Suddenly Susan star said.  

Shields acted quickly, “shutting all the doors” and “running to get the towels” to soak up the flood water. “I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to tell somebody.’ So I go to the downstairs bedroom and with the fear of God…I said, ‘I just want to let you know, excuse me!’ “ the actress explained. “‘I just want to tell you, I think the house might have flooded, but I think I’ve got it.’ And she’s [Barbara’s] like, ‘Come in here! Come in here!’ She’s like, ‘George, maybe Brooke can answer this question. Sit down.’“ Little did Shields know, Barbara was in her “dressing gown.”

“She goes, ‘Okay, ask her, ask her.’ And he goes, ‘Well, who do you think did it?’ “ Shields continued. “And I was like, ‘I don’t know who did it, but it’s probably the person who you think least did it.’ And I sat there in between [them] and we watched the rest of SVU and I was like, ‘This is a moment of my life that was so special.’ “ Barbara didn’t seem to mind the interruption, despite being underdressed. “She’s like, ‘Honey, she saved our house!’” Shields added. “And I was like, ‘Well, I wouldn’t go that far.’“