Longtime ‘Today’ Host Shares ‘Painful’ Announcement

Beloved “Today Show” star Hoda Kotb made a painful announcement to viewers on Thursday, announcing that she will be stepping away from the bright lights after nearly two decades at the helm.

The Daily Mail reported that Kotb, 60, will be leaving NBC’s flagship morning show by the end of the year, capping 17 years of waking Americans up each weekday with newsworthy and heartwarming items from across the country and around the globe. Addressing her “Today family,” Kotb called the change in her career a “monumental moment” and a chance to try “something new.”

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“As I write this, my heart is all over the map,” Kotb said as she read a letter on Thursday morning. “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.”

“My time at NBC has been the longest professional love affair of my life. But only because you’ve been beside me on this twenty-six-year adventure. Looking back, the math is nuts. 26 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. So many of my professional relationships have become some of my most cherished friendships.”

Rightly so, the segment ended with co-hosts holding hands and wiping away a few tears as they promised to stay in touch with their colleague of 26 years. Kotb called Jenna Bush Hager her “ride-or-die” buddy and Savannah Guthrie “my rock.”

“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,” she continued. “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 … Because I’ll be working through the beginning of 2025, there’s plenty of time to talk about what’s ahead for all of us. But one thing I know for sure right now is this: everything’s going to be just fine. The Peacock’s feathers are never ruffled… no matter who comes or goes. TODAY and its amazing people — all of you — never waver. You always weather change with grace and guts.”

She concluded: “Happily and gratefully, I plan to remain a part of the NBC family, the longest work relationship I’ve been lucky enough to hold close to my heart. I’ll be around. How could I not? Family is family and you all will always be a part of mine.”

WATCH:

Hoda Kotb has announced that she is leaving TODAY early next year. pic.twitter.com/sXuRsDbNnI

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 26, 2024

Guthrie spoke for the group when she lauded Kotb as a mentor who always had her back. “Hoda. We love you so much. And when you look around and see these tears, they’re love. You are so loved,” she replied. “We don’t want to imagine this place without you. So it’s complicated because we don’t want you to ever go,’ she explained. ‘But I just want to say I am so proud of my friend, you have guts.”

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