On Thursday, Hoda Kotb, the co-host of the widely beloved and always enthusiastic Today show, sat on a Studio 1A couch among her teary-eyed colleagues and revealed that she would be leaving the show early next year. In the farewell subgenre of the day, this was as truly harmonious and well-choreographed a departure as the network suits could have expected — a far cry from Ann Curry’s notoriously awkward departure, not to mention Matt Lauer’s portentous cancellation. Hoda herself climbs into the chair. Tears, praise and declarations of love flowed unhindered. Savannah Guthrie called Hoda “our sunshine,” and Al Roker called her “our north star.”
Hoda said she decided to step down from her position in August, after she turned 60. She had reached “the crest of the wave” and decided it was time to give her children “a bigger piece of my time pie.” Of course, all of this is indisputably true. Hoda is on top — in fact, thanks to the Olympics, today she just beat Good Morning America this quarter for the first time since she started hosting in 2018 — and 60 is a reasonable time to start focusing toward the real joys of life. (Woj just did it at 55.) In fact, I’ve been reliably told that Hoda considered leaving NBC for her 50th birthday as well.
