By Variety | Created at 2024-09-26 13:25:04 | Updated at 2024-09-30 09:33:56
3 days ago
Hoda Kotb, an NBC News mainstay who stepped up to co-anchor the flagship hours of NBC’s “Today” when longtime host Matt Lauer was ousted in 2017, will leave the program at the beginning of next year, opening not one, but two important roles at the network’s flagship morning franchise.
Speaking Thursday morning on the program, Kotb cited a desire to spend time with two young daughters. “I realized it was time for me to turn the page,” after a recent 60th birthday, she told colleagues on the program. She noted that she had children later in life and that “they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have.” She is expected to continue to contribute to the program after she departs in early 2025.
Her shoes will be hard to fill. Kotb not only anchors the first two hours of “Today” with Savannah Guthrie, but she has been a regular in its lighter 10 a.m hour, which she has co-anchored with Jenna Bush Hager and Kathie Lee Gifford. She has demonstrated a versatility — able to tackle hard news stories and personality features while also displaying emotion and heart on screen — that not every TV personality can do.
More to come
