Hoda Kotb, the longstanding co-host of NBC’s morning show, “Today,” announced that she will leave the broadcast early next year. Her reason has everything to do with family.
“It was time for me to turn the page at 60,” Kotb said on “Today” Thursday while holding back tears. “I decided this is the right time for me to move on. I obviously had my kiddos late in life and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have.”
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Kotb is one of the most familiar faces on NBC. She has co-hosted the program with Savannah Guthrie since 2017. ‘I will miss you all’ she said to her colleagues seated around her.
Kotb’s intention to spend more time with her daughters, Haley, 7, and Hope, 5, was a big part of her decision. Sharing, “I feel like we only have a finite amount of time. But she’s not totally leaving her NBC family behind, Kotb says; she will remain with TODAY through early next year and is going to stay in the NBC family in an unspecified role.
In breaking the news to her colleagues and the viewing audience, “It’s kind of a big deal for me,” she said through tears. “I’ve been practicing so I wouldn’t cry, but anyway, I did.”
Hoda has been part of the fabric at NBC News for nearly three decades, after previously working at “Dateline” and as the co-host of the fourth hour of TODAY with Kathie Lee Gifford and then Jenna Bush Hager. She and Savannah Guthrie have co-anchored TODAY for more than five years.
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We will miss seeing Hoda Kotb’s face in the mornings, but wish her all the best as she spends precious time with her girls.
What decisions have you made recently that placed family as top priority? Share your comments on Instagram @bsm_mag
Photo courtesy TODAY
