The longtime ‘Today’ co-anchor announced back in September that she’d be leaving the morning show.
WASHINGTON — Hoda Kotb’s last day as co-anchor of NBC’s “Today” show and co-host of “Today with Hoda & Jenna” is coming up next week.
She’s scheduled to wrap up her time on the morning show on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025.
With only a few days left before her departure, “Today” is planning to celebrate Kotb the entire week and teased some big surprises in store for her final send off.
Jenna Bush Hager, Kotb’s co-host on the fourth hour of “Today,” previously revealed they’ll be having a “Hoda-bration for Hoda’s final show” on Jan. 10. That’ll include a live studio audience, with their show taking place in Studio 8G at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, which is where “Late Night with Seth Meyers” is filmed.
Why is Hoda Kotb leaving ‘Today’?
When announcing back in September that she was planning to leave “Today,” Kotb explained part of her decision included thinking about how her kids deserve a bigger piece of her “time pie.”
“I just turned 60 and it was such a monumental moment for me, when I turned 60 years old, because I started thinking about that decade – like what does that decade mean, what does it hold, what’s it going to have for me – and I realize that it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and to try something new,” Kotb shared on-air with her co-anchors and viewers.
Kotb has been with the network for 26 years, including 17 years on “Today.” She has co-anchored with Guthrie since 2018, filling in after Matt Lauer was fired amid sexual harassment allegations. She first joined NBC News as a correspondent for “Dateline” in 1998, and later joined “Today” in 2007.
While she’s leaving the morning show on Jan. 10, Kotb said she will not be leaving NBC all together.
Kotb has also served as co-host of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade since 2018 and been a key part of NBC’s Olympics coverage during the last several Summer and Winter Games.
Who is replacing Hoda Kotb?
Craig Melvin will be replacing Kotb as the co-anchor of “Today” alongside Savannah Guthrie, starting on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025.
Melvin will also remain as a co-host of the 3rd hour of “Today” alongside Al Roker, Dylan Dreyer and Sheinelle Jones.
The fourth hour of the morning show will move ahead as “Today Jenna & Friends,” featuring guest co-hosts until a permanent co-host is named.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
