Hoda Kotb leaves NBC's “Today”

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CNN
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Hoda Kotb, co-host of NBC's “Today” morning show, is leaving her position early next year, she announced Thursday.

Kotb has co-hosted the show with Savannah Guthrie since 2017, succeeding Matt Lauer, who was fired following allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct in the workplace.

“At 60, it was time for me to start a new chapter,” Kotb said on “Today” on Thursday, holding back tears. “I decided this was the right time for me to move on. I had my children late in life, of course, and I thought they deserved a bigger piece of my time pie than I have.”

She added that it was the “hardest decision of her life.” Kotb has two young daughters that she adopted and wants to spend more time with them.

Kotb joined NBC in 1998, initially as a correspondent for the news magazine “Dateline” and was named co-anchor of the 10 a.m. hour of “Today” with Kathie Lee Gifford in 2008. Jenna Bush Hager took over that role in 2019.

Guthrie said, “We don't want to imagine this place without you. So it's complicated because we love you so much and we don't want you to ever leave.” However, she told her that she “takes courage when someone leaves at the peak of their career.”

Although she is leaving “Today,” she will “remain part of the NBC family,” according to the network.

No replacements have been announced for her two roles from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and at 10 a.m.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.