Hoda Kotb’s mom has always been her biggest cheerleader. So it’s only fitting that Sameha Kotb would have an inspirational message to share on her daughter’s final episode of Hoda & Jenna.
“When I turn on the TV and I see Hodie, I see her smile and I love that,” Sameha began. “I check to see what she is wearing. Is she wearing the dress I sent her — or something else?”
(In 2016, Hoda told TODAY.com that Sameha often picks out her clothes. “She’s so good. She’s better than anybody,” Hoda said, at the time. “She knows exactly how bodies work.”)
As Sameha paid tribute to Hoda on her last day in Studio 1A, she remembered how the TODAY co-anchor got her start.
“She was in school at Virginia Tech, she did a radio show, and that’s when she knew she wanted to be on television,” Sameha recalled. “And I said, ‘Of course. Go for it!’”
When watching this moment, Hoda wiped away tears while mouthing along to her mom’s encouraging words from the past.
After Hoda graduated from college with a degree in broadcast journalism, she was determined to make a name for herself.
“She took my car and drove to a lot of places to find a job and then knocked on doors,” Sameha shared. Often, Hoda was met with rejection.
“She kept saying, ‘Oh, Mom, no one’s said yes yet,’ and I said, ‘Keep going!’” Sameha remembered.
Hoda kept going and landed an on-air role at WXVY in Greenville, Mississippi. She went on to work at several TV stations, before joining NBC as a Dateline correspondent in 1998.
When Hoda traveled to dangerous locations for a story, Sameha would urge her daughter to come home. Of course, Hoda always refused.
“She (would say), ‘Mom, I love my job,’” Sameha said, with a laugh.
But Hoda loves her family, including daughters Haley and Hope, more than anything.
“She FaceTimed me every morning,” Sameha said. “I said to her, ‘You don’t have to do that every day,’ (But) that’s the way she is.”