Kathie Lee Gifford reacted to the surprise news that her friend and former colleague Hoda Kotb is leaving the ‘Today Show” after a nearly 20-year run on the NBC morning news program.
On September 27, Gifford Took to X to post two photos of her and Kotb from their “Today Show” days together. “Bittersweet news as my dear friend @hodakotb steps away from the Today Show. Her warmth, laughter, and incredible spirit have brightened our mornings and touched countless hearts. Here’s to new adventures!” Gifford captioned the post.
Kotb, 60, shared the unexpected news of her departure on September 25, 2024, telling her colleagues Jenna Bush Hager, Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin, Al Roker, and Sheinelle Jones Jones that it felt like the right time to “move on.” She revealed that she plans to stay on the show until early 2025.
Hoda & Kathie Lee Had a Long Run Together on ‘The Today Show’
GettyHoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford.
Gifford and Kotb hosted the fourth hour of the ‘Today Show” together from 2008 to 2019, per Today.com. The two co-hosts became close friends and were known for their late morning happy hours as they regularly downed glasses of wine during their segment.
According to PennLive.com, Gifford once told The Social that the day drinking began in 2009 when guest Chelsea Handler came on the show to promote her book “Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea.” Producers set up real cocktails for the segment and it spawned the tradition.
Their last on-air toast came on April 5, 2019, upon Gifford’s departure from the show after 11 years. Gifford credited her close bond with Kotb for their successful “Today Show” hour. “You also want to remind people of why this show worked in the beginning — because we have fun. We have a friendship and it’s real,” Gifford said, per The Daily Mail.com.
Kotb told Gifford that sitting next to her for 11 years was “like a master class in this broadcasting business.” “Because nobody, nobody, nobody does it like you do it,” Kotb said. “Nobody ever has and nobody ever will. You are all by yourself.”
Gifford was replaced by Jenna Bush Hager for the show’s fourth hour in 2019.
Many of Hoda Kotb’s Colleagues Were Surprised by Her Exit Announcement
Kotb had been thinking about stepping away from “Today” for a while, but few people knew about her plan. A source told Page Six the mom of two began planning her exit long before she made the decision public. “There weren’t many people who knew she was considering it, but she has been thinking about this and contemplating it for a really long time,” an insider told the outlet in September 2024.
The source shared that the first person to get the news off-camera was Kotb’s “Today” co-anchor, Savannah Guthrie, followed by her former co-host, Jenna Bush Hager. Other staff members were told the news just a few days before Kotb announced it on air, Page Six reported. “People were shocked. It’s still very shocking,” the source said.
In an emotional message to her colleagues, Kotb wrote, “Dear Today family, As I write this my heart is all over the map. I know I’m making the right decision but it’s a painful one and you are all the reason why. They say true 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 this show.”
Kotb went on to describe her time at the at NBC as “the longest professional love affair of her life,” but only because her colleagues had been beside her for the past 26 years.
“I’ve been weighing this decision for quite a while- am I truly ready?” she shared. “But my 60th birthday celebration on the Plaza felt like a shift. Like a massive joyful YES you are! I saw it all so clearly. 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.”
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