‘My heart is all over the map’: NBC’s ‘Today Show’ will bid farewell to pioneer morning talk show host
Today fans, your mornings will look a little different in 2025. Longtime daytime host Hoda Kotb is stepping down as co-host after 17 years to spend more time with her family.
Surrounded by her colleagues, Kotb made the announcement live on Today on September 26, 2024. In the segment, Kotb explained that turning 60 made her take stock of the direction of her life. She became a mother late in life, adopting daughters Haley, 7, and Hope, 5 after losing her fertility to a battle with breast cancer in 2007.
Recently, Kotb moved her daughters out of Manhattan and into the suburbs, telling People that she wanted them “to feel grass on their feet, and play in the yard, and ride bikes down the street, and run up and down the stairs.”
In February 2023, her youngest daughter Hope suffered from an undisclosed medical situation that, while now stable, requires constant management. This latest career shift appears to be another step toward Kotb’s goal of being more present in her children’s lives as they grow up.
Kotb says she will remain at NBC in some capacity, although she hasn’t yet revealed what her new role will entail.
A groundbreaking career in journalism
Understandably, Kotb is ready for a break from hosting duties. The veteran journalist has been hustling in the news business since the mid-1980s when she accepted her first job out of college at a CBS affiliate in Mississippi. She officially joined network news in April 1998 when she took a job as a correspondent for Dateline NBC and other NBC News platforms.
While known best for her permanent smile and big heart, Kotb is also an award-winning journalist. In 2002, she won the coveted Edward R. Murrow Award for her reporting, and she’s won two Daytime Emmys, a Peabody Award, and a slew of other accolades for her work.
In 2007, she became the first host of the fourth hour of Today before being joined by Kathie Lee Gifford in 2008. Jenna Bush Hager took over for Gifford when she left in 2019. On January 2, 2018, Kotb made history when she became co-anchor of Today with Savannah Guthrie. She replaced Matt Lauer, who was fired for sexual misconduct. Kotb and Guthrie are the first female anchor team to host the show in its 72-year history.
In an open letter Kotb wrote to NBC staff, she admits that she has mixed feelings about stepping away from the anchor desk. “As I write this, my heart is all over the map,” she shared on air. “I know I’m making the right decision, but it’s a painful one. And you all are the reason why. They say two things can be right at the same time, and I’m feeling that so deeply right now. I love you and it’s time for me to leave the show.”
Kotb went on to explain, “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.”
Congratulations to Kotb as she takes this next step.
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