Hoda Kotb said she will be leaving “Today” early in 2025. She has been co-anchoring the morning show for more than five years.
According to Today.com, Kotb told his coworkers about the choice in a letter.
After more than 25 years at NBC News, the person is leaving. Kotb used to work at “Dateline” and used to co-host the fourth hour of “Today” with Kathie Lee Gifford and Jenna Bush Hager.
She became co-anchor after Matt Lauer quit because of sexual misconduct claims, and she worked with Savannah Guthrie and other shows for five years.
“My time at NBC has been the longest professional love affair of my life,” she wrote in the letter, Today.com reports. “But only because you’ve been beside me on this twenty-six-year adventure.”
In her message, Kotb said she still wants to “remain a part of the NBC family,” but she didn’t say what her job would be at the network after she leaves. It wasn’t clear when she would leave, but she said she would “be working through the beginning of 2025.”
In honor of her 60th birthday, Kotb recently did a piece on Today Plaza. It was that emotional moment that made her decide to leave, she said.
“I’ve been weighing this decision for quite a while — Am I truly ready?” She wrote. “But celebrating my 60th birthday on the Plaza felt like a change.” Like a huge, happy YES, you are! It was all so clear to me: my job as a broadcaster has been wonderful, I’m about to start a new decade of my life, and my girls and mom need and deserve more of my time. I’m going to miss you all so much, but I’m ready and excited.
Kotb is married and has two kids. In 2017 she adopted Haley Joy, and in 2019 she adopted Hope Catherine. She had both children with her ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman. They broke up in 2022.
A replacement for Kotb wasn’t named right away.