Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager to Reunite as Kotb Returns to Today to Co-Host 4 Months After Exita
NEED TO KNOW
- Hoda Kotb will return to co-host Today with Jenna & Friends on Wednesday, May 28
- It will be her first in-person appearance on the show since her exit in January
- Kotb will be reuniting with her friend and former co-host Jenna Bush Hager
Hoda’s coming home!
Hoda Kotb will reunite with her former co-anchor Jenna Bush Hager on the Wednesday, May 28 episode of Today with Jenna & Friends, stepping back to her former seat.
On Tuesday, Bush Hager, 43, announced that Kotb, 60, was her surprise guest co-host for Wednesday after previously teasing that the guest was a former basketball star-turned-bestselling author.
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“For one day only, Hoda Kotb is back!” Bush Hager declared, noting that Kotb is returning to Today as she is “announcing her new project.”
“We feel so excited. I was texting her at 5:30 this morning, as one does,” Bush Hager gushed. “I can’t wait.”
The appearance will mark Kotb’s first time officially returning in person to the show since her exit from Today with Hoda & Jenna in January. Earlier in the day on Wednesday, Kotb will appear in the first two hours of Today to discuss her new project with her former co-workers — Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Craig Melvin and more.
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“It’s been too long!” Guthrie said on Tuesday of her former co-anchor’s time away, calling the upcoming appearance Kotb’s “triumphant return.”
Melvin joked about the appearance after taking over for Kotb on the Today newsdesk, teasing, “I had a good run.”
But Guthrie assured him, “No, no, no, you’re not getting away that easily, my friend. Just a little visit from Hoda.”
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Kotb stepped down from her role after 14 years in January in order to spend more time with her daughters Haley Joy, 9, and Hope Catherine, 5. She also previously teased her plans to step into the wellness space moving forward.
When Kotb first announced her decision to exit the NBC morning show in September 2024, she shared that she planned to stay close by.
“I plan to remain a part of the NBC family, the longest work relationship I’ve been lucky enough to hold close to my heart,” she said at the time. “I’ll be around. How could I not? Family is family and you all will always be a part of mine.”
