Hoda Kotb Home Sick With the Flu, out From 'Today' for Several Days
Hoda Kotb will be absent from the Today show as she battles the flu. The announcement was made [...]
Hoda Kotb will be absent from the Today show as she battles the flu. The announcement was made during Monday morning's episode by Kotb's co-host Savannah Guthrie, who explained that Kotb will be forced to miss several days of the show as she recovers from the illness. Although Kotb is expected to return by mid-week, she may be out longer.
"If you're missing Hoda, so are we," Guthrie told viewers, according to PEOPLE. "Guess what, she's got the flu. And we think she'll be out 'til probably mid week, maybe longer. So we're sending her our best wishes this morning."
"She did get the flu shot for those who are wondering," Guthrie added.
The Monday announcement came just after the Today co-hosts, including Kotb, returned from Orlando, Florida, where they hosted a special edition of the Today show to celebrate their new Today Café in Universal Orlando Resort.
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Kotb's bout with the flu is just the latest health scare to hit the co-hosts. Along with Guthrie being absent from the morning show after undergoing eye, Sheinelle Jones, co-host of the 3rd Hour of Today, is currently on a six-week absence as she recovers from vocal cord surgery.
On Feb. 20, Jones announced that she would be undergoing the procedure to remove a polyp from her vocal cord, which doctors first discovered years ago. She underwent the procedure on Feb. 24, updating fans on her recovery shortly after.
"Hi everybody! I just wanted you to know that I'm okay, and to thank you for all of your messages and prayers," she wrote on Instagram. "Apparently I emerged out of anesthesia 'talking' …. I was out of it… I just remember a male voice kindly but firmly telling me to 'please stop talking.' At the time, I was trying to tell them that I was 'awake' and not to use the breathing tube yet lol — but clearly they were already finished."
"Now the work begins to heal," she continued in part. "The nurse kept telling me to 'enjoy' the rest... I had a hard time doing that, so clearly I have some work to do."
Jones' recovery involves two weeks of her not being able to talk. In all, she will be away from the Today show for six weeks.
Meanwhile, Kotb is expected to return either this week or next week depending on her recovery from the flu.