Hoda Kotb admitted it feels ‘scary’ and ‘terrifying’ to move on from the TODAY Show after stepping down as co-anchor.
The veteran journalist, 60 — who announced her shock departure late last month — explained that although it was a difficult decision, she also feels it was ‘exactly right’ and teased her future while appearing on Today with Hoda & Jenna.
On Friday, she said of her resignation: ‘Yeah, it’s scary. It’s terrifying. It’s all of those things, but it’s also exactly right.’
And after dedicating 26 years of her career to NBC, she said she wants to ‘fall in love’ with this new chapter of life — romanticizing what positive changes it could bring.
‘Whenever I made a leap, a move, a jump — it was, like, I’m falling in love. When I moved to this town, I’m falling in love. I’m going to fall in love with a place, a restaurant, a friend, I’m going to meet a boyfriend,’ she said with hope.
Hoda Kotb admitted it feels ‘scary’ and ‘terrifying’ to move on from the TODAY Show after stepping down as co-anchor
The TV personality compared her future to the ‘re-potting’ of a plant — ‘pulled up by your very roots, your foundation, everything that grounds you and your roots are in the air.’
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She wondered where she was ‘going to land’ and explained that ‘so much of life is decision-making.’
Reminiscing over her time on the network she said: ‘When you love something, it’s hard to say goodbye to it because it doesn’t make sense.
‘But there was something to me about recognizing a peak and saying in that peak, like, “I do not feel that there is an opportunity that would make this any better than it is today.”
‘Once that feeling hits you, it’s like this is it. I don’t want to spend the rest of my days trying to recreate the top of the mountain. It was glorious. It was unforgettable,’ she added.
The starlet also teased fans about possibly moving toward a career in wellness.
‘I want to work in that space. I want to start things. I’ve got things that are percolating inside … but I want you guys to come along on the ride with me because let’s all get better! Why not?’ she said.
On September 26, Hoda shocked fans when revealing she should be parting ways with the TODAY show in an emotional live explanation.
‘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 it’s gonna have for me?”‘ she said on-air.
On Friday, she said of her resignation: ‘Yeah, it’s scary. It’s terrifying. It’s all of those things, but it’s also exactly right’; seen in February 2024
She said she wants to ‘fall in love’ with this new chapter of life — romanticizing what positive changes it could bring; seen in October 2024
The TV personality compared her future to the ‘re-potting’ of a plant — ‘pulled up by your very roots, your foundation, everything that grounds you and your roots are in the air’; seen in May 2024
The starlet also teased fans about possibly moving toward a career in wellness; seen in September 2024
The Emmy winner also penned a heartfelt letter to her colleagues who she has grown extremely close to during the nearly three decades she spend with the program.
She read: ‘As I write this, my heart is all over the map. I know I’m making the right decision, but it’s a painful one. And you all are the reason why.
‘They say two things can be right at the same time, and I’m feeling that so deeply right now. I love you and it’s time for me to leave the show,’ she said.