Hoda Kotb to Exit NBC’s ‘Today’ Show
Hoda Kotb is planning to exit NBC’s Today show.
The NBC anchor announced the news on the program Thursday morning, adding that she will remain as co-anchor of the program into early 2025, before shifting to a new role at NBC News.
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“I just turned 60, and it was such a monumental moment for me when I turned 60 years old, because I started thinking about that decade, like, what does that decade mean? What does it hold? What’s it going to have for me? And I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and to try something new,” Kotb said, flanked by her Today show colleagues on the Studio 1A couch.
“I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of the time pie that I have,” she added. “I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.”
“We love you so much, and when you look — when you see these tears — they’re love, as 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,” Kotb’s co-anchor Savannah Guthrie said after the news was shared. “I just want to say I am so proud of my friend. 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 safe…. You have so much guts. You inspire me.”
Kotb has been co-anchor of NBC’s Today alongside Guthrie since 2018, and has been with NBC News for 26 years as both a correspondent and anchor. She launched the Today show’s fourth hour, anchoring alongside both Kathie Lee Gifford and Jenna Bush Hager.
Her looming departure will force NBC News to decide how to fill two of the network’s most important time slots: The main Today show, and the 10 a.m. hour. It is not immediately clear what the network has planned.
“Twenty-six years at NBC News — ten years at Dateline, seven on the seven o’clock hour, sixteen on the ten o’clock hour. I’m picturing your faces and your families and all the ways you’ve lifted me up and inspired me. That’s my heart singing,” Kotb wrote in a memo to Today staff. “So many of my professional relationships have become some of my most cherished friendships. Savannah: my rock. Jenna: my ride-or-die. Al: my longest friend at 30 Rock. Craig, Carson, Sheinelle and Dylan: my family. Libby, Mazz and Talia: my fearless leaders. I will miss each and every one of you at Today desperately.”
While the specifics of her new role at NBC were not revealed Thursday, Kotb is expected to contribute to the program in some capacity after her exit as co-anchor.
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