Inside Hoda Kotb's Last Day at the Today Show: 'From the Bottom of My Heart, Thank You'

"I'm not even able to articulate it because I'm a mess most of the times, but I just want to say thanks," the 60-year-old journalist said through tears.

Kotb made her final sign off as an anchor on the NBC news program Friday after 17 years with the network.

"I'm not even able to articulate it because I'm a mess most of the times, but I just want to say thanks," the 60-year-old journalist said through tears after watching a video tribute to her career. "Carson [Daly], you're like the secret sauce on this show, man. Without you the show doesn’t hum. Like, you have the thing and you brought it. You bring it every day."

The mom of two continued, "Al, you’re my first friend here, the first person I met," she said to Al Roker. "When I got sick, you were the first person that walked into the room and said I was going to be okay."

Continuing to shout out her colleagues, Kotb then turned her attention to Savannah Guthrie, who she called "my person."

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"Who shows up for everybody? This girl," Kotb said. "When your brother died, it was this girl. When I was going through stuff with Hope, it was this girl. She's in the room. She's always in the room and I love you."

Kotb closed things out by hyping up Craig Melvin, who will be replacing her on the Today show desk.

"Craig, I mean, I'm so happy for you," Kotb said. "You earned this. You own this. And come Monday at 7:00 a.m., I'm going to be dead asleep. But you're gonna be fantastic. You're going to bring it home! Craig, you're gonna be so good. You and Savannah are going to be magic."

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Kotb's co-anchors had a few surprises instore for her during Friday's show, including a slew of celebrity guests who were on-hand to send her off.

Among them were Maria Shriver and Simone Biles, the latter of whom called Kotb her "Olympic mom" and said she hoped to see the TV star in Los Angeles for the 2028 games.

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"Hopefully we're in L.A. together, whatever that means," Biles said. "Whatever that means for the both of us."

Kotb replied, "Simone, however you end up in L.A. and whatever you do, I'm going to be there too with you. I love you."

Kermit the Frog also showed up for Kotb's last day, and sang "Rainbow Connection" for Kotb and her two daughters Haley, 8, and Hope, 5, who were also onset.

NBC

Kotb revealed that she actually played the song when she "rolled in" to work on her final day.

"Hoda, you truly do make very day as beautiful as a rainbow," Kermit said.

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Her former co-host, Kathie Lee Gifford, also returned to say goodbye to Kotb, complete with a big glass of daytime wine and some kind words for her TV partner in crime.

"I fell in love with Hoda at lunch," she said about their first meeting and how they spent so much time at the restaurant that they were kicked out.

Gifford said she only signed on to the show for a year.

"My problem is I fall in love, and I fell in love with Hoda," she said. "And I said, 'I don't want to leave her.' Every time I was with Hoda, the one thing I had in common with you and with Regis [Philbin] -- two very, very different people -- I look forward every single day to being with you both."

"I've always said she's sunshine in a bottle, isn't she, everybody?" Gifford added.

Calling her "fearless," Gifford also detailed how Kotb proved that she was more than a journalist after taking her position on the Today show stage.

"You proved to me that you're a fearless person," she said. "You are, because she didn't do what she does now at the beginning. She was world-renowned journalist, but she didn't trust her performing instincts, and that wasn't going to work with me."

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Gifford ended the emotional send-off with a toast to her former co-anchor.

"I think I want to send her off with what she knows from my heart means most to me is that I'm sending you off with a prayer," Gifford said before reciting a pair of prayers. "May you walk into the most joyful, prosperous, purposeful time in your life."

As for her Hoda & Jenna co-anchor, Jenna Bush Hager, she teared up throughout the show while saying goodbye to Kotb, and even penned a heartfelt letter show wrote to her to send her off.

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"My dearest, you are teaching us the most important lesson of all -- how to say goodbye with grace," Bush Hager said. "This isn't just any Hodini, driving off with my purse still in your car, you have been able to sit in the glow of the goodbye! Viewers have traveled miles, from other states to declare their love on poster board, every single guest has gotten to share their Hoda story: how you have made them feel seen, and heard."

She continued, "Thank you Hoda for everything you have taught me, everything you've given me: all the hugs, all the heart all the laughs, all the love."

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Kotb's last day wasn't only filled with emotional goodbyes and surprise guests, her co-anchors also made sure to play one final prank on her beloved colleague.

After coming back from break following the first half hour of the show, Guthrie began reading a fake script.

"We're back at 7:30 it’s Friday morning," Guthrie said. "And it's a day of mixed emotions as we get ready to say goodbye to an icon here at 30 Rock."

"Let's face it, all around the world we'll be counting down to it,” Guthrie continued as she began to giggle and the cameras panned their way over to the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree that is still lit up and standing behind the Today studio in New York City.

"Yes, our beloved Christmas tree is coming down tomorrow," she added.

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The prank turned what would have been tears into belly laughs as Kotb, Guthrie and Melvin realized Guthrie wasn't talking about Kotb but the iconic Christmas tree so many people travel to see each holiday season.

"What? Did you think we were talking about something else?" Guthrie joked as Kotb buried her face in her hands.

Guthrie and Melvin praised the control room for their mood-lightening joke.

"Brilliant," Melvin added. "They had to have one last crack at you," Guthrie said to Kotb on behalf of those in the control room.

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Elsewhere in the show, Kotb made her way out to the Today Plaza, where she bid her final farewell to the show's crew and producer.

"Can I just say thank you real quick?" Kotb said. "Can I just say thank you to every person who came out here? I read your cards. I got your bracelets I got the scarves you crocheted. I read the texts. I got everything. So I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you for coming out, for being here and for everything you did."

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Kotb announced in September that she would be departing her role at Today after almost two decades.

"As I write this, my heart is all over the map," the journalist wrote in a letter to staff of the NBC morning show. "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."

Explaining her reasoning, Kotb added in part, "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."

However, Kotb did share that she will remain part of the NBC team in some capacity, sharing recently that she plans do specials, a podcast and maybe some Olympics coverage.

"It'll involve doing some specials, doing the podcast and doing maybe the Olympics, stuff like that," she said at the time. "It'll be like those kinds of things. So it'll be specials and all those things. And I think every month or so, I'll come back on the Today show and do a little something in this space, which I think will be fun."