Hoda Kotb’s voice broke as she began her final ever episode co-anchoring the Today show.
As the show began, her co-star Savannah Grieve admitted that she was already ‘tearing up’ and the pair held each other’s hand for comfort.
Kicking off Friday’s program, Savannah, 53, began: ‘Hi, everybody. Good morning and welcome to Today.
‘It is wonderful to have you here with us this Friday morning and I am feeling emotional. Our floor director just uttered the words “one last time; five, four, three, two, one and here we go”.’
Holding onto Savannah’s hand, Hoda said: ‘One last time. Let’s do this. Let’s do this.’
‘We’re going to celebrate you today,’ Savannah pointed out.
Hoda Kotb choked up as she began her final ever episode co-anchoring the Today show
The anchor, 60, held onto Savannah Guthrie’s hand as they began their last news update
Hoda then took a moment to thank the crowds gathered outside Studio 1A at Rockefeller Plaza.
‘And I do want to say thank you because people came out super early in the crowd this morning,’ she said.
Before the episode started, Hoda shared a sweet post-it note message from her production assistants.
The note read: ‘Hoda! We’ll miss prepping your packets. Thank you for everything! Enjoy retirement.’
Alongside the photo, which she posted on Instagram, Hoda commented: ‘I’ll miss u too xo.’
Additionally, she shared an image featuring the famous Winnie the Pooh quote, ‘how lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard’, accompanied by a cartoon of Winnie and Piglet.
Commenting on the upload, Hoda’s fellow costar admitted: ‘Already crying at the poo cartoon!’
Hoda announced that she was stepping down from the Today show in September, citing that turning 60 had shifted her priorities in life.
Ahead of her last episode airing, Hoda shared a sweet message from the Today show’s production assistants
She also posted this famous Winnie the Pooh quote, leaving Jenna Bush Hager ‘crying’
Hoda announced she was stepping down from the Today show in September after nearly three decades at the network
‘I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,’ she said on the program.
‘I recalled standing outside, gazing at this beautiful group of individuals holding these lovely signs, and I thought, ‘This is what the peak of happiness feels like to me.’
‘And I thought it can’t get better, and I decided that this is the right time for me to kind of move on.’
Hoda added that her two young daughters, Haley, eight, and Hope, five, also played a major part in her decision.
‘Obviously I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have,’ she said.
‘I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.
‘And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world.’
In November, it was confirmed that Craig, who has been with NBC News for nearly 14 years, would be taking over from Hoda.