We’ve had a couple days now to let the news sink in:
Hoda Kotb is leaving The Today Show.
After 17 years, the co-host stunned viewers on September 26 by stating the following:
“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new.”
Kotb also referenced her young children while making her announcement, making it clear she needed to spend more time with her five and seven-year old.
Perfectly understandable, of course.
The reported will remain behind the Today Show desk until January 1 and will then remain within the “NBC family” in some capacity.
But now we’re forced to ask an obvious question: Who will replace Hota Kotb?
“The big contender who everyone at the network is talking about is Laura Jarrett — she has a really strong chance,” an NBC insider has told Us Weekly.
“She’s the anchor of Weekend Today; she is a lawyer like [Kotb’s coanchor] Savannah [Guthrie]. She’s a darling at the Today show who has risen up very quickly.“
Laura is 40 years old and her mother, Valerie Jarrett, served as Barack Obama’s senior advisor during his administration.
She replaced Kristen Welker as co-anchor of Today Show’s Saturday coverage in September 2023.
Other options also work for NBC these days.
There’s Craig Melvin and there’s Carson Daly, according to this same source.
“The other option is they could move around anchors,” the insider explains. “They could put Craig with Savannah, or they could put [3rd Hour Today cohost] Sheneille [Jones] with Savannah.
We’ve also heard buzz around these parts about Political and National correspondent Jacob Soboroff, along with NBC News Now anchor Tom Llamas.
Both of these personalities are considered rising stars — and executives are aware that Al Roker, Lester Holt and Dateline’s Keith Morrison all may retire in the near future.
For her part, Meteorologist Dylan Dreyer spoke to E! News and was asked to forecast who might fill Today’s soon-to-be empty anchor chair.
“I don’t think if they named anyone in our core group of people it would be surprising,” she told to Keltie Knight at the 2024 People’s Choice Country Awards, keeping things diplomatic and adding:
“We’ve all filled in along the way when somebody’s out. I don’t know if anybody’s made any decisions yet, but if it’s one of the core group, I really don’t think it’s that surprising.”
Said Kotb upon revealing her future plans:
“Obviously I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time 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.”
