Fans and celebrity guests alike are going to miss seeing Hoda Kotb on Today.
On September 26, Kotb, 60, surprised viewers when she announced that she will be leaving the show in early 2025. “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 gonna have for me?” she tearfully stated. “And I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and to try something new.”
Kotb first joined NBC as a correspondent for Dateline in 1998. Ten years later, she joined the Today show as Kathie Lee Gifford’s fourth hour cohost in 2008. In 2018, she took over for Matt Lauer as Savannah Guthrie’s coanchor following his sexual misconduct scandal, and has been cohosting the fourth hour with Jenna Bush Hager since 2019.
When announcing her future departure, Kotb noted that wanting to spend more time with her daughters — Haley, 7, and Hope, 5 — played a big part in her decision to leave Today. An NBC insider exclusively told Us Weekly that Kotb was also “very focused” on exploring the world of wellness, which she later confirmed on Today With Hoda & Jenna.
‘Today’ Show Hosts React to Hoda Kotb’s Surprising Exit
“What I want to do is I want to live in wellness. I want to work in that space,” she shared on the show’s October 25 episode. “I want to start things. I’ve got things that are percolating inside that I’m gonna, hopefully, have fully formed soon.”
Kotb’s final Today episode will take place on January 10, 2025, with Craig Melvin stepping in as Guthrie’s coanchor. Bush Hager will continue to host the fourth hour under a new title, Today With Jenna & Friends, alongside a rotating panel of guest hosts.
Scroll down to see how celebrities have reacted to Kotb announcing the end of her Today run:
Maria Shriver
“I’m so proud of my friend @hodakotb for following her heart into this next chapter!” Shriver wrote alongside a clip of Kotb’s exit announcement via Instagram on September 26. “May we all be inspired by your bravery, your courage, and your willingness to see what’s next. May we all trust in life’s adventures and never stay complacent. May we keep learning, and trying, and seeing what else is out there! Hoda, I’m so excited for you, and I can’t wait to see what this next chapter holds for you!”
Kotb credited Shriver for giving her “guidance” throughout her career on the October 25 episode of Hoda & Jenna. “You followed your gut and you went with what you wanted, even though you were afraid. And I think that’s so heroic. I think that’s brave,” Shriver responded. “And I think we often think of people [who are] brave [as] people who ski down a mountain or climb a mountain. But it’s really brave to leave something that you love and walk into the unknown. It’s really brave to think, ‘There’s something more for me out there. I don’t know what it is, but I’m gonna walk towards this,’ and that’s what you’re doing.”
Hoda Kotb’s Most Memorable and Emotional ‘Today’ Show Moments
She continued: “What I just tried to do is remind you that you have done this before in different incarnations and that you know what you’re doing, to believe in your voice, to believe in your gut and to follow that. That was really my only role is, ‘You’ve got this. You’ve always had it.’”
Mariska Hargitay
“I love you so much, and I’m so proud and inspired by you and was excited to see you today,” the actress gushed during an October 1 interview with Kotb and Guthrie, 52. “And I’m so grateful to be able to say that because we’re 26 years together, baby. And we’re 60 years together, baby.” (Hargitay made her debut as Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 1999, shortly after Kotb joined Dateline.)
“And so, when you made your decision, I said, ‘Yes!’ I said, ‘Yes!’ And my gosh, I grieve for all of us in this country who’s gonna miss you, and most of all, Savannah,” she added before offering to follow in Kotb’s footsteps.
“[I’m] happy to step in any time,” she quipped to Guthrie, who replied, “We might have to call you up.”
Jimmy Fallon
Fallon said he “lost it” when he learned of Kotb’s Today exit while chatting with the TV personality on the October 7 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Kotb said her “favorite” card she received from friends after her announcement came from the late-night host, which simply read, “What the hell?”
“Hoda, what you do for this network, I can’t even tell you. … Your life is going to completely change. This is fantastic,” Fallon added. “You’re gonna go to concerts. You’re gonna go out on dates. You’re gonna go to restaurants. You’re gonna watch bad TV. You’re gonna whatever the heck you want because you don’t have to wake up at three in the morning.”
Hoda Kotb Recalls the Moment She Knew It Was Time to Leave ‘Today’ Show
After Kotb clarified that she will be staying within the NBC family after her Today exit, Fallon stated: “You can’t leave us ‘cause we need you. The world needs you. We need you so much.”
Chris Martin
Kotb asked the musician if he and his Coldplay bandmates planned on retiring after recording their 12th album. Martin proceeded to bring up Kotb’s own retirement news before joking that they were going to join forces for a business venture.
“Aren’t you retiring soon, too?” he stated on October 8. “Hoda, I thought we had a deal that we were going to go into business together making cookies?”
Later that day on Hoda & Jenna, Bush Hager, 42, jokingly objected to the pair’s hypothetical baking company, stating, “I didn’t know that you were starting a cookie-making business with Chris Martin.”
Trevor Noah
Reflecting on his 2022 exit from The Daily Show, Noah offered Kotb some words of wisdom on starting a new chapter in her career.
“The one piece of advice I’ll give you is don’t jump into everything else on the other side,” he shared on the October 9 episode of Today. “I made that mistake initially, and then now, I found a nice cadence and a different rhythm where I go, like, ‘I don’t have the same push anymore, but it’s nice. It’s a different type of feeling.’”
Henry Winkler
“I know that a lot of people have sat here. There are a lot of guests that come through this show that you have been doing for a long time,” Winkler said before diving into his interview on the October 15 episode of Hoda & Jenna. “You two make each guest feel like they are the only guest. And I just want to say on behalf of my wife Stacey [Weitzman] and I, we are going to miss you as America is going to miss you. Thank you for always making me welcome. The two of you have a chemistry that is going to be very difficult to fill.”
Jason Segel
After finishing an interview with Kotb on the October 16 episode of Today, the Shrinking star made Kotb choke up after sharing some heartfelt comments about the host. “I’m gonna miss you when you’re gone,” he stated. “I just want you to know, these interviews have been some of the best of my whole career. So, I’m really grateful to know you.”
Kotb thanked Segel for his kind words by embracing him for a hug.
Billy Crystal
“I hope I come back before you depart here ‘cause you’ve been so great here for so long, and every time I’m here with you, it’s a very special feeling. So, I hope I’m back one more time,” Crystal said at the end of his interview with Kotb on the October 22 episode of Today.
Kotb, for her part, replied, “I hope so, too. That was really sweet.”
Molly Shannon
“Hoda, I wanted to say, I’m so happy about your decision. I’ve thought about you so much and that’s absolutely wonderful,” Shannon said on the October 29 episode of Hoda & Jenna, adding that she can relate to Kotb’s desire to spend more time with her kids.
“And as a mother, I totally get it because it’s a funny thing. My kids are both in college now, and it’s such a wild thing when you get to that point,” she shared before concluding the conversation by stating, “So happy for you, Hoda. Jenna, you two are joy.”
Bobby Flay
Flay proposed a potential TV collaboration with Kotb while cooking with the Hoda & Jenna cohosts on October 29. “Take some time off, and then, you know what, I want to bring you to the Food Network,” he declared. “You and I, Kotb and Flay, we’re gonna travel the world, we’re gonna eat, you’re gonna cook for me, I’m gonna cook for you.”
While Kotb was thrilled by the idea, Bush Hager made her feelings on the idea known. “I’m standing right here,” she jokingly stated, to which Flay replied, “It’s over. I’m taking her to the Food Network. She’s given you all these years, but it’s time for you to come over to the Food Network.”
Keke Palmer
Palmer learned of Kotb’s Today exit for the first time during her November 20 interview on Hoda & Jenna. After putting her hands to her mouth in shock, the actress jokingly jumped at the chance to take over Kotb’s spot on the couch next to Bush Hager.
“Oh no! Well, I’ll just — let’s switch real quick,” she quipped before pretending to interview Kotb as a guest. Bush Hager loved the idea of cohosting with Palmer, teasing, “Well, Keke’s sticking around for the next five years.”
Bowen Yang
“30 Rock has the air of, like, a national tragedy has occurred, that Hoda’s leaving,” the Saturday Night Live star joked on the November 20 episode of Hoda & Jenna. “Thank you so much for sharing everything about your life with Hope and with Haley, the kids. You let us into that journey so beautifully, and I think the whole world really was, like, on your side through everything. I love you guys so much.”
Bush Hager went on to share that Yang and his “Las Culturistas” podcast cohost, Matt Rogers, “are gonna do a little surprise for Hoda as we send her off into the world of wellness.”
Remaining tight-lipped, Yang teased: “It’s gonna be a good surprise!”
Cynthia Erivo
The Wicked star joined Kotb, Guthrie and Al Roker at the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, during which she presented Kotb with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. “These flowers are for you because I know that this is the last Thanksgiving parade you’re doing,” she said on the broadcast. “And I wanted to celebrate that and I wanted to say we love you and thank you for all of the hard work you’ve done all of these years.”
Ken Jeong
“I just want to thank you, Hoda, for elevating my career and just loving and supporting me. And if it wasn’t for people like you, I would not have a career like this,” Jeong told Kotb on the December 2 episode of Hoda & Jenna. In true comedic fashion, he commemorated Kotb’s upcoming Today departure by gifting her a picture of himself laying across his Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
“I want you to frame that,” he hilariously quipped. After Bush Hager asked if he wanted to sign the pic for Kotb, he stated, “No, that would cost extra. I would love to, but my handlers won’t let me. … Just hold it wherever you are from 8 to 11 Eastern Standard Time on NBC.”
‘Queer Eye’ Cast
The cast of the hit Netflix reality show gave Kotb her flowers — literally — ahead of her Today exit. “There’s no one in the industry like you. You make people feel so safe and you’re just the most incredible person and we love you so much,” Jonathan van Ness said while appearing with costars Tan France, Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski and Jeremiah Brent on the December 11 episode of Today. “And we had to give you your flowers because no one does it like you, and we love you so much.”
Kotb teared up over the sweet gesture as Porowski joked, “And you have to carry these home now, so you’re welcome.”
