After nearly three decades in daytime TV, Hoda Kotb will say her goodbyes in 2025. On Thursday (Sept. 26), she announced her upcoming departure from the ‘TODAY’ show. However, according to the show’s site, Hoda will continue being part of the NBC network.
RELATED: Who You Got? Social Media Debate Over Favorite ‘106 & Park’ Host Goes Viral
Hoda Kotb Shares Why She’s Leaving ‘TODAY’ Show
Kotb gave a tearful testimony on TV about what influenced her to make the career change after all this time. She pointed to her birthday celebration last month as a factor. Hoda celebrated her 60th on August 9.
“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” Hoda Kotb said. “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.”
Aside from feeling fulfilled with her career, Hoda also wants to spend more time with her daughters, five-year-old Hope and 7-year-old Haley. The TV host shared that she feels her kids “deserve a bigger piece” of her “time pie.”
“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…,” the 60-year-old stated.
She later added that walking away is a “big deal” for her. Despite allegedly practicing her announcement so she wouldn’t cry, she did anyway. As mentioned, Hoda might be walking away from the ‘TODAY’ show, but she will continue her 26-year working relationship with NBC. However, she didn’t specify in what capacity. As for the ‘TODAY’ show, Hoda said her chapter will continue through the first of January 2025.
Host Shares Heartfelt Letter With Her Co-Workers
For those unfamiliar with Hoda Kotb’s career, she worked at ‘Dateline’ for 10 years before joining the ‘TODAY’ show. At NBC, she has co-hosted the fourth hour with Kathie Lee Gifford and Jenna Bush Hager. For the last five years, she has also co-anchored with Savannah Guthrie.
In an internal letter to the ‘TODAY’ family, Hoda admitted that though her decision feels “right,” it is “painful.”
“I’ve been weighing this decision for quite a while – Am I truly ready? But, my sixtieth birthday celebration on the Plaza felt like a shift. Like a massive, joyful YES, you are! I saw it all so clearly: my broadcast career has been beyond meaningful, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mom need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie. I will miss you all desperately, but I’m ready and excited,” she wrote in the internal memo.
Hoda Kotb has announced that she is leaving TODAY early next year. pic.twitter.com/sXuRsDbNnI
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 26, 2024
