Hoda Kotb chokes up as she kicks off last episode on the Today show while holding hands with Savannah Guthrie

Hoda Kotb's voice broke as she began her final ever episode co-anchoring the Today show.

As the episode began, her co-star Savannah Grieve admitted that she was already 'tearing up' and the pair held each other's hand for comfort. 

Kicking off Friday's program, Savannah began: 'Hi, everybody. Good morning and welcome to Today.

'It is great to have you with us on this Friday morning and I'm tearing up. Our floor director just said "one last time; five, four, three, two, one and here we go".'

Holding onto Savannah's hand, Hoda said: 'One last time. Let's do this. Let's do this.'

'We're going to celebrate you today,' Savannah pointed out.

Hoda then took a moment to thank the crowds gathered outside Studio 1A at Rockefeller Plaza.

'And I do want to say thank you because people came out super early in the crowd this morning,' she said.

Hoda announced that she was stepping down from the Today show in September, citing that turning 60 had shifted her priorities in life.

'I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,' she said on the program.

'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.'

Hoda added that her two young daughters, Haley, seven, and Hope, five, also played a major part in 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.

'I feel like we only have a finite amount of time. And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world.'

In November, it was confirmed that Craig, who has been with NBC News for nearly 14 years, would be taking over from Hoda.