Hoda Kotb has announced she is leaving NBC’s “Today” show after 17 years with the program.
Live on NBC Thursday morning, Kotb said turning 60 in August allowed her to reflect and ultimately come to the decision.
“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” she said. “I remembered standing outside looking at this beautiful bunch of people with all 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.”
A visibly emotional Kotb said she wants to spend more time with her children, Haley and Hope, who are 7 and 5.
“I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my ‘time pie’ that I have,” Kotb said. “I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.”
She said deciding to leave was “the hardest thing in the world.”
Kotb said she will stay on the Today show through the beginning of 2025, and will still remain a part of NBC once she leaves the program. She did not specify what her role would be afterward.
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Kotb’s colleagues, who were gathered around her as she delivered the news, also shared their thoughts on her departure.
“We don’t want to imagine this place without you,” said Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. “It’s complicated because we love you so much, and we don’t want you to ever go. But also I just want to say, I am so proud of my friend.”
“You inspire me, I love you,” Guthrie said.
Nathan Congleton/AP
Jenna Bush Hager, Kotb’s co-host joked with Kotb through tears.
“It’s not over,” she said. “I’m going to be showing up at your house like the stalker you are to Zac Brown. I will be there on your doorstep, and we are your friends forever.”
Another of the show’s hosts, Sheinelle Jones, also sharing a message to Kotb.
“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,” ones said. “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.”
Kotb has been a part of NBC for 26 years.
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