Ahead of Hoda Kotb's last day as a Today host, Newsweek has compiled everything you need to know, including what the broadcaster is doing next.
On September 26, 2024, the beloved host revealed that she would depart the show after 26 years with NBC. Kotb cited a wide variety of reasons she felt that 2025 was the right time to step aside, from wanting to "turn the page" and "try something new."
She explained that turning 60 was a "monumental" moment in her life, which resulted in her thinking about the decade ahead. "I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and to try something new. This is the right time for me to move on," she said.
She described the decision as the "hardest thing in the world."
Newsweek reached out to a spokesperson for Kotb via email for comment.
When Is Hoda Leaving the 'Today' Show?
Kotb's last day on Today will be Friday, January 10. The NBC morning show has dubbed the week leading up to her departure as a "Hoda-bration."
During the episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna that aired on December 18, co-host Jenna Bush Hager said that as well as a week of celebrations, there will also be a "big announcement."
"We are having a Hoda-bration for Hoda's final show, and guess what? We're going to have a live audience," Bush Hager revealed. "There will be big surprises, lots of surprises that Hoda won't even know about."
The "Hoda-bration" began on January 6, when Kotb was reunited with 70 of her former Tri Delta sorority sisters from Virginia Tech. She also received a personalized painting from one of her favorite authors, Charlie Mackesy.
Who Is Replacing Hoda? What We Know
Beginning January 13, Craig Melvin will join Savannah Guthrie as co-anchor of Today for the first two hours of the show, replacing Kotb. He already hosts the third hour of the NBC morning show alongside Roker, Sheinelle Jones and Dylan Dreyer.
Guthrie revealed the news live on air on November 14. She said to Kotb, "I just want to say that we will spend a week celebrating you. As you mentioned, we have a lot to celebrate.
"Though you are irreplaceable, we are so excited about the news in our Today family, and that is the person sitting right next to me—our dear friend and talented, wonderful, hardworking, most worthy of this, Craig Melvin is the new anchor of the Today show.
"And let me just say that the staff, the larger staff found out this morning, and people broke into applause. This is one of the most popular decisions NBC News has ever made."
Kotb added: "You are made for this job. You are literally made for this job. You are that kind of good. You have all the things that this job needs. You're the right person for it."
Kotb's spot on the fourth hour with Bush Hager has yet to be filled. NBC has said the segment will be called Jenna & Friends until a new co-host is chosen.
What Is Hoda Going To Do Next?
Kotb is leaving Today to devote more time to her children, Haley Joy and Hope Catherine, whom she adopted in 2017 and 2019 with her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman.
According to the journalist, turning 60 made her reevaluate her priorities as a mother.
"I knew that I wanted this decade to be different. I looked at my time like a pie. I was like, this is how much time I get, and now what am I going to do with it, and how am I going to carve it up? And I wanted it to be filled with more of them," she recently told People.
"There's the guilt you carry because you can't be 100 percent at work and 100 percent at home. Something has to give if you want excellence. If you're going to be excellent at work, something has to give at home. And if you want to be excellent at home, I mean excellent and do all the things, something has to give at work. It can't be equal."
While Kotb is saying goodbye to Today, she isn't retiring yet. She revealed that she was launching a wellness app and shared details about the project during the January 6 episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show.
"I am starting a wellness app and company that will involve retreats and a podcast and all kinds of things that we can get together, do things that I love," she said.
"It's not like going to Mexico with your girls, which is fun, but this is something that when you leave, you'll go like, 'Oh my gosh. I feel transformed. I feel different.'"
Kotb initially shared her desire to conquer the wellness market during an on-air conversation with Bush Hager in October.
"I don't know if you've ever had a yearning, a calling, a desire, and you can't quit it, even if you try, because working at NBC is safer," she explained.
"But sometimes, you know there's something else that you want to try in your life. And I have been so turned on by the wellness space because I realized what was happening to me."
She continued: "I tried different things, and I noticed my body was calmer. I was getting sick less. I was feeling better. I was a better parent, a better friend, a better sister, a better daughter. And I thought all these tiny things I was doing day after day were helping to change me inside.
"What I want to do is I want to live in wellness. I want to work in that space. I want to start things. I've got things that are percolating inside that I'm gonna, hopefully, have fully formed soon."
English (US) ·