Hoda Kotb shares what her days and life with her daughters will look like post-TODAY
As Hoda Kotb wraps up her last days at TODAY, she’s already making space for her new routine.
The podcast host and TODAY co-anchor tells TODAY.com she has her “week plan” in place for her life after her last day with the show Jan. 10.
“I think what I’m going to do is I’m going to — I have it like a schedule because I wanted to frame a couple of days so I didn’t wake up and go, ‘Oh I’ll do whatever.’ And then you’re like, ‘Huh?’” she explains.
“So I kind of have my miniday planned,” she says.
Hoda plans to start her day with an exercise class just before 6 a.m.
“Because I will still be sleeping in for two hours,” she adds, which is an improvement from her usual 3 a.m. wake-up time.
After her workout, she’ll make her coffee at home as her kids, Haley, 7, and Hope, 5, will be getting up for school.
“I will get them breakfast and walk with that cup of coffee to the school,” she says.
After returning home, Hoda says she will “want to get to work on this wellness company I’m going to start.”
“I’m working on a whole bunch of different things, but I’m going to do, from 9-11, two hours, work there,” she says. “Then, for the afternoon, for 11-12 — that period of time, that’s where I want to really take time because you get creative when you have space. When you’re sprinting from place to place, you lose all your creativity. So I want to be able to have room to take walks outside.”
Hoda also hopes to have lunches with people who “inspire” her so she can “get more ideas.”
After a bit more work in the afternoon, Hoda looks forward to picking up her girls from school.
“And throw burgers on the barbecue and just have a normal night,” she adds.
Hoda says what’s going to be “the most important” thing for her is locking down what her daily routine will be because she likes a schedule.
She will also have more time than she normally does to focus on “journaling, meditation, prayers.”
“I’ll be making space for myself during the days, which, usually, my days were just kind of a sprint through,” she says. “I had, like, ‘Thankful Thursdays,’ where I would squeeze in something good for me on Thursdays, but that really isn’t really enough.”
“Even if it’s a 30-minute walk — just me, no music, no podcast, no nothing — just walk. See what that feels like.”
The one thing Hoda has said she’s most looking forward to doing with her daughters after she leaves TODAY is walking them to school. But there are plenty of other things Hoda can’t wait to “let” her daughters experience.
Hoda’s friend and author Mel Robbins sat down with her Jan. 6 on TODAY to discuss her “let them” theory. Robbins also recently turned that theory into a book of the same name.
“I think the reason why this is a magical concept ... is because we’re living in a moment of time where people feel like so much is out of their control,” Robbins said.
She then went on to describe the “message” of the theory.
“No matter what’s going on outside of you, the power is always inside of you,” Robbins explains. “Two simple words, ‘let them,’ are the key to helping you to see what’s in your control and what’s not in your control.”
Now that Hoda will soon be spending more time at home with Haley and Hope, what will she “let them” do that they didn’t get the chance to do previously?
“I am going to let them become who they were meant to be with my kind of loving boundaries,” Hoda tells TODAY.com.
“I think I came from a generation of ‘follow the rules,’” she explains, “and you followed the rules, and you were very obedient, and you were a good kid. But discovering who you were came so much later in life because you were too busy trying to be right, trying to fit in spaces.”
In addition to wanting her kids to be polite and respectful, Hoda also will encourage her girls to “know who they are.”
“I’m going to let them find the voice inside them,” she says. “I’m going to let them take more trips and stay up a little later because part of the reason I put them to bed at that hour is because I’ve got to go to bed. I’m like, ‘Goodnight! Everyone’s going to bed.’ They’re like, ‘It’s 6:30!’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, lights out!’
“I’m going to let them fall and not get in the way and not try to scoop them up so quickly, like I usually do,” she continues.
“I’m just going to let us be a family with a normal rhythm of life,” she says. “See what we become.”
When Is Hoda Kotb’s Last Day On ‘Today?’ Why She’s Leaving After 17 Years
This week marks the end of an era for the Today show, as longtime co-host Hoda Kotb prepares to sign off from the NBC morning program after 17 years. When is Hoda’s last day on Today, why has she decided to leave, and what is she doing next? Here’s everything you need to know.
Kotb became the first host of Today’s inaugural four-hour weekday morning broadcast in 2007, and Kathie Lee Gifford joined her as co-host in April 2008. (Jenna Bush Hager later replaced Gifford when she left in April 2019.) In January 2018, Kotb and Savannah Guthrie were named the female anchor duo for Today following Matt Lauer’s termination amid accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.
Given Kotb's extensive history with the Today show and her even longer tenure at NBC — where she began her journalism career in 1998 as a Dateline correspondent and reporter — it's unsurprising that news of her departure reportedly came as a "complete surprise" to most of the Today staff, except for her closest colleagues, like Bush Hager and Guthrie.
The co-anchor officially announced the news to the world during the Sept. 26 broadcast of Today. "Saying goodbye to something this amazing is hard," she told Bush Hager. "It weighed a lot on me. I went back and forth and back and forth, and then I thought to myself, 'You know, I think this decade, I think I'm going to have to start choosing me.'"
Hoda Kotb said she is leaving the Today show to spend more time with her children. She shares two daughters with her ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman — Haley Joy and Hope Catherine — whom she adopted in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
“I know I’m making the right decision, but it’s a painful one. And you all are the reason why. I love you and it’s time for me to leave the show,” she wrote in a letter to the Today show staff, adding that her daughters “deserve a bigger slice of my time pie.”
The 60-year-old mother of two later explained to People that turning 60 prompted her to reassess her priorities as a mother. “I knew that I wanted this decade to be different. I looked at my time like a pie. I was like, this is how much time I get, and now what am I going to do with it and how am I going to carve it up? And I wanted it to be filled with more of them,” she said, referring to Haley and Hope.
Kotb’s decision to leave Today follows a challenging period in 2023 when her youngest daughter, Hope, then 5, faced an unexpected medical crisis. By October, People reported that Hope’s condition had “greatly stabilized.” Kotb has since relocated her family from the Upper West Side to a home in Westchester, where they can enjoy “being barefoot and on grass” with a yard and a swing set.
“It does make more sense to stay at NBC. I’m financially secure and I would have job security. I mean, why would you ever not do that? But I’ve been watching my kids and I was thinking to myself, I wonder what I’m missing?” she added.
Hoda Kotb’s final episode of Today will be on Friday, Jan. 10, with the week leading up to her departure being celebrated as a “Hoda-bration” by the morning show.
During the Dec. 18 episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna, Jenna revealed plans to celebrate her co-host’s farewell. “We’re going to have a live audience. There will be big surprises, lots of surprises that Hoda won’t even know about,” she shared.
Kotb’s last week began on Jan. 6 when she was surprised by 60 of her Tri Delt sorority sisters live on the plaza to help kick off her Hodabration. “You guys, I can’t believe you did this,” Hoda said during the heartfelt moment. “I was the pledge trainer for this sorority and it meant the absolute world to me. I can’t believe you guys came. I’m shocked, I can’t believe it y’all! This is so crazy! I love you!”
On Monday, the co-anchor was also gifted a personalized painting by Charlie Mackesy, the renowned author of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, one of her all-time favorite books.
“First of all, I love him so much. His book has been life-changing for so many people, including me,” Kotb said as she accepted the gift, sharing that she already has a sketch from his book hanging in her office.
“I can’t believe he did that,” she added. To make the moment even more special, the British author recorded a heartfelt message for Kotb, which Bush Hager played live during Monday’s show.
After departing from Today, Hoda Kotb plans to explore the wellness space. The journalist has shared her intentions to launch a wellness app and host retreats.
“I am starting a wellness app and company that will involve retreats and a podcast and all kinds of things that we can get together, do things that I love,” she said on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Jan. 6. “It’s not like going to Mexico with your girls, which is fun, but this is something that when you leave, you’ll go like, ‘Oh my gosh. I feel transformed. I feel different.’”
Along with spending more quality time with her daughters, Kotb told People that her daily routine will significantly change now that she no longer has to wake up at 3 a.m. for her anchoring role.
“I’m sleeping in,” she told the site when asked what her first day off will look like. “I’m going to go to a 5:30 SoulCycle. I’m going to feed my kids breakfast. I’m going to get a hot cup of coffee. I am going to walk with them to school, which is going to be one of the most amazing things. Small, but amazing.”
Hoda Kotb exits 'Today': Here’s what she’ll be doing on Monday — and beyond, after her final show
Hoda Kotb has big plans for life after Today.
A co-anchor of the popular morning show since 2018 (and co-host of Today With Hoda & Jenna), Kotb is walking away from the prestigious gig on Jan. 10. She is not, however, retiring.
This is what she’ll be up to instead.
When she announced she was leaving in September, Kotb said she was exploring a business in the area of wellness — and she shared more details this week on the Kelly Clarkson Show.
“I am starting a wellness app and company that will involve retreats and a podcast and all kinds of things that we can get together, do things that I love,” she said. “It's not like going to Mexico with your girls, which is fun, but this is something that when you leave, you'll go like, ‘Oh my gosh. I feel transformed. I feel different.’”
She added, “I started doing stuff that I thought seemed woo-woo and weird. Then all of a sudden, as I was doing it, I was like, ‘Wait, I feel calmer. I feel better.’ Woo-woo makes you feel good.”
Kotb said the company is still being developed and is expected to launch in the spring.
When Kotb announced her departure, she said, “I plan to remain a part of the NBC family.” Her co-anchor Savannah Guthrie reiterated this on air, saying, "I have to let people know, she's not leaving the NBC family. You will see her, and we will see her."
Kotb hasn’t yet elaborated on what her new role will be, but the New York Times reported in November she “will remain as a contributor to [Today],” so expect to hear more about that.
The journalist became a mom later in life through adoption and is raising daughters, Hope, 5, and Haley, 7. They recently moved out of New York City to the suburbs of Westchester, where they’re loving their new home and neighborhood.
Hoda said turning 60 last year made her reprioritize because she was missing time with her girls and they “need and deserve a bigger piece of my time pie.” For Today, she was awake by 3 a.m. and on the set by 5:30 a.m., so wasn’t able to take her kids to school or see them in the morning.
In her new life after Today, Kotb will be waking up at 5:15 a.m. starting on Monday for a 5:30 a.m. SoulCycle class in her new town. She’ll be home around 6:30 a.m. and will feed her kids breakfast, she told Women’s Health. Then, “I'm going to walk them to school with a Yeti mug full of coffee with heavy cream in it. I'm going to walk home slowly.”
There won’t be much lounging though. After school drop off, she’ll work on her business, she told Today.com. She’ll also plan lunch dates with people who inspire her to get her creativity flowing. She’ll also prioritize a daily walk. After that, she’ll pick up her girls from school.
Kotb said she’ll also set aside time for "journaling, meditation [and] prayers."
After this epic send-off for the well-regarded anchor — which has seen her reunite with her sorority sisters and blush over celebrity crush Blake Shelton, Craig Melvin will be stepping into his role as her replacement.
“He’s a serious journalist, but he’s also good company,” Kotb said of Melvin. “Being good company matters at this hour. Being good company when you’re at home having a bowl of cereal and coffee matters.”
As for the Hoda & Jenna hour, Jenna Bush Hager will fly solo after Kotb says goodbye with a rotating group of special guests until a permanent successor is announced. The show will temporarily be renamed Today With Jenna & Friends.
Starting on Jan. 13, the "friends" will include Taraji P. Henson, Keke Palmer, Eva Longoria and Michelle Buteau. Scarlett Johansson — who is no stranger to 30 Rock, where Today is based and where her husband, Colin Jost, appears on Saturday Night Live — will guest host the entire week of Jan. 20.
Hoda Kotb, Jenna Bush Hager Abruptly End A Segment After Admitting They’re “Running On Fumes”: “We Give Up”
Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager shared a hilariously candid moment after they cut their favorite segment short on one of their final broadcasts together.
The Today hosts were answering viewers’ questions and offering advice when they reached one inquiry from someone who was writing in about her sister’s “gentle parenting.”
“Her kids are still unruly and definitely not gentle. I’m finding it hard to be around them. What can I do?” the viewer asked.
“Too ‘gentle’ gets on our jangly, too,” Bush Hager said as she read the question aloud. She then began to fan herself and appeared annoyed by the question.
“Why are you getting all hot?” Kotb then asked her co-host with a laugh. She searched for the answer to give their viewer: “Um okay, well I don’t know what you do. I actually don’t know. Don’t go over there. Life is short.”
Bush Hager laughed and suggested that Kotb’s answer may be a sign that it’s time to end their Social Dilemmas segment once and for all.
“She’s not gonna hang out with her sister Holly anymore?” she asked incredulously, before admitting, “We don’t know. We give up. This may be our last Social Dilemma. I mean, this is our last, but maybe we just retire the whole segment.”
Kotb, whose last day on the show is tomorrow (Jan. 10), began to protest.
“Oh no, this is fun! We love [Social Dilemmas],” she insisted. “They’re good, we’re just out of gas.”
The co-hosts had already admitted on the broadcast that they were “running on fumes” while preparing for Kotb’s final day on the broadcast, which is set to be one big “Hoda-bration.”
The Jan. 10 broadcast of Today With Hoda & Jenna will be a major production, complete with a live studio audience and several surprises as they bid Kotb farewell after almost 30 years at NBC.
Monday, Jan. 13, will usher in a whole new era of the fourth hour of Today. Bush Hager will stay on the air as a host, but she will be joined by a revolving panel of celebrity guest hosts on a new show called Today With Jenna & Friends.
And the show will be starting with a bang; that first week will feature Taraji P. Henson, Eva Longoria, and Keke Palmer as guest hosts. Scarlett Johansson will also return to Today to guest host.
Today with Hoda & Jenna airs on weekdays at 10/9c on NBC.
Hoda Kotb through the years on the ‘Today’ show
Hoda Kotb has been a staple of the “Today” show’s daily live broadcast for nearly 18 years, and on Friday, Jan. 10, it’s time for her (and viewers) to say goodbye.
Kotb, 60, has co-anchored the 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. time slots of “Today” with Savannah Guthrie since 2018. She has also hosted the show’s fourth hour at 10 a.m. since 2007, first with Kathie Lee Gifford, then joined by Jenna Bush Hager in 2019 after Gifford’s exit. Kotb announced her departure from the show on Sept. 2024.
In honor of Kotb’s last show, here’s a look back at the most memorable moments throughout her NBC career.
