Hoda Kotb Admits She’s Excited About Plans for After She Leaves ‘Today’

Scott Fishman December 19, 2024, 8:28 am

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Fans, colleagues, and everyone in between are certainly getting the Kleenex tissue ready for what will likely be a tearful Today show goodbye for Hoda Kotb. The beloved host’s last day on the job is January 10, 2025. Ahead of the exit, the 60-year-old spoke to Walker Hayes about what she was looking forward to after leaving the show.

During the December 18 episode of her “Making Space” podcast, Kotb told the country star she was excited at something so simple but what many parents take for granted. The idea of taking her daughters, Haley, 7, and Hope, 5, to school.

Speaking on the podcast, she recalled how one of the Today show’s producers had told her how her mother walking her to school every day was her “best” memory.

“All I want to do is walk my kids to school,” said Hoda. “And 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. I think it’s all going to work out beautifully.”

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Hoda has said previously how having her kids late in life factored into her decision to quit the show, especially as she is a single parent. “I was thinking they deserve a bigger piece of my pie time,” she confessed. “I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.

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Kotb’s long farewell hit one of its big last stops in November when she co-anchored the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade along with her partners in crime Savannah Guthrie, and Al Roker. It was a post she held since 2018. Another member of the Today show family, Craig Melvin, has been announced as her replacement.

NBC looks to be planning to pull out all the stops for Kotb’s final broadcast. Co-host Jenna Bush Hager shared on the Wednesday, December 18, episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna, “We are having a ‘Hoda-bration’ for Hoda’s final show.” She also teased big surprises “that Hoda won’t even know about” and the fact the milestone episode will emanate from the iconic Rockefeller Plaza’s Studio 8G before a live studio audience. Those interested in attending the fourth hour of the broadcast can visit the Today website.