{"id":825459,"date":"2025-02-08T11:12:30","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T17:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/08\/hoda-kotb-gets-emotional-as-she-starts-the-final-episode-on-the-today-show\/"},"modified":"2025-02-08T11:12:30","modified_gmt":"2025-02-08T17:12:30","slug":"hoda-kotb-gets-emotional-as-she-starts-the-final-episode-on-the-today-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/08\/hoda-kotb-gets-emotional-as-she-starts-the-final-episode-on-the-today-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoda Kotb gets emotional as she starts the final episode on the Today show"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hoda Kotb\u2019s voice broke as she began her final ever episode co-anchoring the Today show.<\/p>\n

As the show began, her co-star Savannah Grieve admitted that she was already \u2018tearing up\u2019 and the pair held each other\u2019s hand for comfort.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kicking off Friday\u2019s program, Savannah, 53, began: \u2018Hi, everybody. Good morning and welcome to Today.<\/p>\n

\u2018It is wonderful to have you here with us this Friday morning and I am feeling emotional. Our floor director just uttered the words \u201cone last time; five, four, three, two, one and here we go\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

Holding onto Savannah\u2019s hand, Hoda said: \u2018One last time. Let\u2019s do this. Let\u2019s do this.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019re going to celebrate you today,\u2019 Savannah pointed out.<\/p>\n

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Hoda Kotb choked up as she began her final ever episode co-anchoring the Today show<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The anchor, 60, held onto Savannah Guthrie\u2019s hand as they began their last news update\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Hoda then took a moment to thank the crowds gathered outside Studio 1A at Rockefeller Plaza.<\/p>\n

\u2018And I do want to say thank you because people came out super early in the crowd this morning,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

Before the episode started, Hoda shared a sweet post-it note message from her production assistants.<\/p>\n

The note read: \u2018Hoda! We\u2019ll miss prepping your packets. Thank you for everything! Enjoy retirement.\u2019<\/p>\n

Alongside the photo, which she posted on Instagram, Hoda commented: \u2018I\u2019ll miss u too xo.\u2019<\/p>\n

Additionally, she shared an image featuring the famous Winnie the Pooh quote, \u2018how lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard\u2019, accompanied by a cartoon of Winnie and Piglet.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the upload, Hoda\u2019s fellow costar admitted: \u2018Already crying at the poo cartoon!\u2019<\/p>\n

Hoda announced that she was stepping down from the Today show in September, citing that turning 60 had shifted her priorities in life.<\/p>\n

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Ahead of her last episode airing, Hoda shared a sweet message from the Today show\u2019s production assistants\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She also posted this famous Winnie the Pooh quote, leaving Jenna Bush Hager \u2018crying\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Hoda announced she was stepping down from the Today show in September after nearly three decades at the network\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,\u2019 she said on the program.<\/p>\n

\u2018I recalled standing outside, gazing at this beautiful group of individuals holding these lovely signs, and I thought, \u2018This is what the peak of happiness feels like to me.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018And I thought it can\u2019t get better, and I decided that this is the right time for me to kind of move on.\u2019<\/p>\n

Hoda added that her two young daughters, Haley, eight, and Hope, five, also played a major part in her decision.<\/p>\n

\u2018Obviously I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

\u2018I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world.\u2019<\/p>\n

In November, it was confirmed that Craig, who has been with NBC News for nearly 14 years, would be taking over from Hoda.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hoda Kotb\u2019s 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 \u2018tearing up\u2019 and the pair held each other\u2019s hand for comfort.\u00a0 Kicking off Friday\u2019s program, Savannah, 53, began: \u2018Hi, everybody. Good morning and welcome to Today. \u2018It<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":825460,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1001,23522],"tags":[6193,5425],"class_list":{"0":"post-825459","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-emotional","8":"category-starts","9":"tag-emotional","10":"tag-starts"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}