What to know
- Hoda Kotb announced she was leaving TODAY last September after 17 years on the show and 26 years at NBC News.
- She said, while announcing her departure, that her decision was in part motivated by her 60th birthday celebration in August on TODAY.
- Hoda also said she wanted to spend more time with her daughters, Haley and Hope. She told TODAY.com how her daughter Hope recently helped her reframedecision to retire.
- Below, we’re recapping the biggest moments from her emotional final day on TODAY, Jan. 10 — also known as the “Hodabration.”
What Hoda plans to do during her first week after TODAY
Wondering what Hoda’s plans are after she ends her time at TODAY? So were we.
Leading up to Jan. 10, Hoda sat down with TODAY.com to share what she thinks her routine will look like the first week after she finishes hosting the TODAY show.
And she does have a routine in mind.
“I have it like a schedule because I wanted to frame a couple of days so I didn’t wake up and go, ‘Oh I’ll do whatever.’ And then you’re like, ‘Huh?’” she explained.
“So I kind of have my ‘miniday’ planned,” she said.
Hoda said she plans to start her day with a fitness class just before 6 a.m. — noting that this means she will get to sleep in two more hours from her 3 a.m. wake-up call when she was appearing on TODAY.
Next, she plans to have a cup of coffee at home and wake up her kids, Haley and Hope, for school.
“I will get them breakfast and walk with that cup of coffee to the school,” she said.
After dropping off her daughters at school, she plans to spend two hours working on her new wellness company. Read her full routine here.
What’s next for TODAY With Hoda & Jenna?
After Hoda’s last day on Jan. 10, the fourth hour of TODAY will be called TODAY With Jenna & Friends.
Jenna Bush Hager will remain on the show, and a rotating group of pals will join her to guest host the show until a permanent host is chosen.
On Jan. 6, Jenna announced the first slate of guest co-hosts for the week of Jan. 13: Taraji P. Henson, Keke Palmer, Eva Longoria and Michelle Buteau.
- Henson will appear on the show on Monday, Jan. 13 and Friday, Jan. 17.
- Longoria will join on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
- Palmer will sit alongside Jenna on Wednesday, Jan. 15
- Buteau will serve as the co-host on Thursday, Jan. 16.
On Jan. 7, Jenna also announced that Scarlett Johansson will be her guest co-host for the entire week of Jan. 20.
Craig Melvin will take over the co-anchor chair on Monday
TODAY’s very own Craig Melvin will replace Hoda Kotb in the anchor chair alongside Savannah Guthrie after her last day on Friday, Jan. 10.
“I am beyond excited and grateful,” Craig said on air after the announcement of new his position on Nov. 14. “This is the latest in a long line of blessings.”
Craig has served as weekend co-anchor and other roles at TODAY, before taking on his current roles as co-host of the 3rd hour of TODAY and news anchor during the earlier hours.
Craig will continue to co-host the 3rd hour of TODAY alongside Al Roker and Dylan Dreyer. His new role as co-anchor begins on Jan. 13.
How Jenna, Savannah and more reacted to Hoda announcing she will be leaving TODAY
Hoda announced live on air that she would be leaving her spot on the TODAY show on Sept. 26, leaving many of her fellow co-hosts in tears.
Hoda made the announcement in Studio 1A surrounded by Savannah Guthrie, Jenna Bush Hager, Craig Melvin, Al Roker and Sheinelle Jones.
Her co-hosts all shared messages of support while sitting next to her on the couch in the TODAY studio.
“We love you so much,” Savannah, her co-anchor, said through tears. “And when you look around and see these tears, they’re love. You are so loved. We don’t want to imagine this place without you.”
“It’s not over,” Jenna, her co-host of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, said. “I’m going to be showing up at your house like the stalker you are to Zac Brown. I will be there on your doorstep, and we are your friends forever.”
“Hoda has a relationship with every single person on this couch in her own way, so I think we’re all just kind of wrestling with it inside,” Sheinelle said. “But we also know what a dynamic mom you are, and presence you are. And your whole movement with wellness, you are going to change the world. And we know it.”
“I have never known anybody like you,” Al said. “I’ve known you forever, and I love you.”
Craig, who will be taking over Hoda’s co-anchor position on Jan. 13, also paid tribute to his longtime co-worker.
“People in this business, when that little red light, it goes off, they’re different people,” Craig said. “We’ve worked with all these people before. You’re the opposite. That little red light goes off, you are exactly like people see you in the morning — just the biggest heart.”
“You’ve been the heart of this show for a long time, and there’s no replacing that,” he told Hoda.
Why is Hoda leaving TODAY?
Hoda Kotb said it was celebrating her 60th birthday on TODAY last August that led her to start thinking about the next venture in her life.
“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” she said on air on Sept. 26 while announcing her decision. “I remembered standing outside looking at these beautiful bunch of people with these gorgeous signs, and I thought, ‘This is what the top of the wave feels like for me.’ And I thought it can’t get better, and I decided that this is the right time for me to kind of move on.”
The TODAY co-anchor also said that her two young daughters, Haley and Hope, played into her decision.
“Obviously I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have,” she said on the air. “I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.
The TODAY co-anchor said in an interview with TODAY.com this week that her daughter Hope helped her reframe her decision to step back from the morning show.
“A week or so before, my little girl Hope was climbing a tree, and she loves this tree, and she was at the top. And so, I said, ‘Look at you. You’re on top of that tree.’ I go, ‘What are you going to do — what are you going to do now?’”
“She goes, ‘I guess I’ll find a different tree,’” Hoda continued. “And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh.’ So sometimes the world starts showing you. So I kind of knew that it was time to try something different, and that means, you know, having my kids ride sidecar next to me more often than they have been.”
Hoda added that she wants to start walking her children to school in the mornings once she’s no longer in the anchor chair.
“All I want to do is walk my kids to school,” she said. “It’s the simplest thing, with a cup of coffee, walking your kids to school. But all the little things, you get to see growth.”
What Hoda plans to do during her first week after TODAY
Wondering what Hoda’s plans are after she ends her time at TODAY? So were we.
Leading up to Jan. 10, Hoda sat down with TODAY.com to share what she thinks her routine will look like the first week after she finishes hosting the TODAY show.
And she does have a routine in mind.
“I have it like a schedule because I wanted to frame a couple of days so I didn’t wake up and go, ‘Oh I’ll do whatever.’ And then you’re like, ‘Huh?’” she explained.
“So I kind of have my ‘miniday’ planned,” she said.
Hoda said she plans to start her day with a fitness class just before 6 a.m. — noting that this means she will get to sleep in two more hours from her 3 a.m. wake-up call when she was appearing on TODAY.
Next, she plans to have a cup of coffee at home and wake up her kids, Haley and Hope, for school.
“I will get them breakfast and walk with that cup of coffee to the school,” she said.
After dropping off her daughters at school, she plans to spend two hours working on her new wellness company. Read her full routine here.
What’s next for TODAY With Hoda & Jenna?
After Hoda’s last day on Jan. 10, the fourth hour of TODAY will be called TODAY With Jenna & Friends.
Jenna Bush Hager will remain on the show, and a rotating group of pals will join her to guest host the show until a permanent host is chosen.
On Jan. 6, Jenna announced the first slate of guest co-hosts for the week of Jan. 13: Taraji P. Henson, Keke Palmer, Eva Longoria and Michelle Buteau.
- Henson will appear on the show on Monday, Jan. 13 and Friday, Jan. 17.
- Longoria will join on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
- Palmer will sit alongside Jenna on Wednesday, Jan. 15
- Buteau will serve as the co-host on Thursday, Jan. 16.
On Jan. 7, Jenna also announced that Scarlett Johansson will be her guest co-host for the entire week of Jan. 20.
Craig Melvin will take over the co-anchor chair on Monday
TODAY’s very own Craig Melvin will replace Hoda Kotb in the anchor chair alongside Savannah Guthrie after her last day on Friday, Jan. 10.
“I am beyond excited and grateful,” Craig said on air after the announcement of new his position on Nov. 14. “This is the latest in a long line of blessings.”
Craig has served as weekend co-anchor and other roles at TODAY, before taking on his current roles as co-host of the 3rd hour of TODAY and news anchor during the earlier hours.
Craig will continue to co-host the 3rd hour of TODAY alongside Al Roker and Dylan Dreyer. His new role as co-anchor begins on Jan. 13.
How Jenna, Savannah and more reacted to Hoda announcing she will be leaving TODAY
Hoda announced live on air that she would be leaving her spot on the TODAY show on Sept. 26, leaving many of her fellow co-hosts in tears.
Hoda made the announcement in Studio 1A surrounded by Savannah Guthrie, Jenna Bush Hager, Craig Melvin, Al Roker and Sheinelle Jones.
Her co-hosts all shared messages of support while sitting next to her on the couch in the TODAY studio.
“We love you so much,” Savannah, her co-anchor, said through tears. “And when you look around and see these tears, they’re love. You are so loved. We don’t want to imagine this place without you.”
“It’s not over,” Jenna, her co-host of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, said. “I’m going to be showing up at your house like the stalker you are to Zac Brown. I will be there on your doorstep, and we are your friends forever.”
“Hoda has a relationship with every single person on this couch in her own way, so I think we’re all just kind of wrestling with it inside,” Sheinelle said. “But we also know what a dynamic mom you are, and presence you are. And your whole movement with wellness, you are going to change the world. And we know it.”
“I have never known anybody like you,” Al said. “I’ve known you forever, and I love you.”
Craig, who will be taking over Hoda’s co-anchor position on Jan. 13, also paid tribute to his longtime co-worker.
“People in this business, when that little red light, it goes off, they’re different people,” Craig said. “We’ve worked with all these people before. You’re the opposite. That little red light goes off, you are exactly like people see you in the morning — just the biggest heart.”
“You’ve been the heart of this show for a long time, and there’s no replacing that,” he told Hoda.
Why is Hoda leaving TODAY?
Hoda Kotb said it was celebrating her 60th birthday on TODAY last August that led her to start thinking about the next venture in her life.
“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” she said on air on Sept. 26 while announcing her decision. “I remembered standing outside looking at these beautiful bunch of people with these gorgeous signs, and I thought, ‘This is what the top of the wave feels like for me.’ And I thought it can’t get better, and I decided that this is the right time for me to kind of move on.”
The TODAY co-anchor also said that her two young daughters, Haley and Hope, played into her decision.
“Obviously I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have,” she said on the air. “I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.
The TODAY co-anchor said in an interview with TODAY.com this week that her daughter Hope helped her reframe her decision to step back from the morning show.
“A week or so before, my little girl Hope was climbing a tree, and she loves this tree, and she was at the top. And so, I said, ‘Look at you. You’re on top of that tree.’ I go, ‘What are you going to do — what are you going to do now?’”
“She goes, ‘I guess I’ll find a different tree,’” Hoda continued. “And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh.’ So sometimes the world starts showing you. So I kind of knew that it was time to try something different, and that means, you know, having my kids ride sidecar next to me more often than they have been.”
Hoda added that she wants to start walking her children to school in the mornings once she’s no longer in the anchor chair.
“All I want to do is walk my kids to school,” she said. “It’s the simplest thing, with a cup of coffee, walking your kids to school. But all the little things, you get to see growth.”