Hoda Kotb is outta there, folks.
Or she will be pretty soon at least.
On Thursday morning, the long-time television personality stunned viewers by saying she has decided to leave The TODAY Show, effective on January 1, 2025.
“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” Kotb said on air.
“I remembered standing outside looking at these beautiful bunch of people with these gorgeous signs, and I thought, ‘This is what the top of the wave feels like for me.’
“And I thought it can’t get better, and I decided that this is the right time for me to kind of move on.”
Indeed, Kotb celebrated this milestone birthday in August — and explained how the occasion inspired the decision she has now finally arrived at.
This is what she said:
“I thought about — obviously, I had my kiddos late in life — and I was thinking they deserve a bigger piece of my time, the pie that I have. I feel like we only have a finite amount of time. And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world.
Kotb shares daughters Haley, 7, and Hope, 5, with her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman.
The co-host will remain a part of the “NBC family” going forward, Kotb emphasized, but not in the kind of regular capacity she’s enjoyed for the past 17 years on TODAY.
In the wake of this news, Kotb’s colleagues responded with statement of gratitude, surprise admiration and a little bit of sorrow.
“Hoda, we love you so much, and when you look around and you see these tears, they’re love. You are so loved. And honestly, I don’t think any of us can imagine — we don’t want to imagine this place without you,” Savannah Guthrie said through tears.
“So, it’s complicated ‘cause we love you so much and we don’t want you to ever go.”
To her friend, she added:
“You have guts. For someone to leave at the top of their game, to leave something that’s wonderful, that you love, where it’s easy and comfortable and beautiful and fun and say, ‘But I dream even bigger for myself…’ You have so much guts. You inspire me. I love you.”
Said Jenna Bush Hager:
“Hoda told me just a couple days ago, and when she told me, my first reaction was from my gut and it was almost crazy. … I said, ‘No, you can’t leave.’
“You’re who I come to when I’m feeling joyful, when I’m feeling unsure. You are who I come to and you believed in me first,” she continued. “We have a lot of bosses ad I love them, but this lady, on October 28, 2013 — I looked it up — said, ‘Hey, wanna come sit next to me? There’s room.’”
Then there was this from Sheinelle Jones:
“The one thing that people know for sure about this group is we are family. And I’m telling you, Hoda has a relationship with every single person on this couch in her own way, so I think we’re all just kind of wrestling with it inside.
“But we also know what a dynamic mom you are, and presence you are. And your whole movement with wellness. You are going to change the world.
“And we know it.”
And Al Roker:
“I have never known anybody like you. I’ve known you forever, and I love you…
We’ll give the last, emotional word to Craig Melvin:
“People in this business, when that little red light, when it goes off, they’re different people. We’ve worked with all these people before. You’re the opposite.
“When that little red light goes off, you are exactly like people see you in the morning — just the biggest heart. You’ve been the heart of the show for a long time, and there’s no replacing that…
“It is sad news for us, great news for Hope and Haley.”
