Kathie Lee Gifford Reacts to ‘Today’ Show Co-Host Hoda Kotb’s Second Adoption

Kathie Lee Gifford made her first major TV appearance after leaving the Today Show on Tuesday, and spent most of her time congratulating former co-host Hoda Kotb on adopting a second child.

While on Fox News Channel’s The Five when the show visited Gifford’s new hometown Nashville, Gifford said she was “thrilled about” Kotb becoming a mother again.

“I knew that was coming, I just didn’t know when it was coming,” Gifford said.

Gifford also told a fan on Twitter that she has not met Kotb’s new baby in person, but they FaceTimed “and she’s GORGEOUS!”

Earlier Tuesday, Kotb announced she adopted baby girl Hope Catherine, giving 2-year-old sister Haley Joy a sibling.

“You know what’s funny? You think that you’re full,” Kotb told new co-host Jenna Bush Hager about why she and boyfriend Joel Schiffman decided to become parents again. “That’s exactly how I felt with Haley and Joel and everything. Joel and I were standing there when they hand you the baby, and it’s the closest thing to a live birth you’ll ever see, but in that moment I was like, ‘Oh my God, my heart just grew.’”

Kotb, 54, talked about becoming a mother of two in the past.

“We don’t know when, but it is something that is important to me and to Joel,” Kotb told Entertainment Tonight in March 2019.”We like the idea of Haley [having] a sibling because she has had such interesting circumstances to grow up. So, it would be nice to be able to share it with somebody.”

Gifford and Kotb became close friends during their 11-year stint on the Today Show today. On April 5, Gifford ended her run on the show to move to Nashville and focus on her movie career with Hallmark Channel.

“I’d given my notice two years before because I knew it was time,” Gifford told The Five on Tuesday. “You know you run out of tick-tock in life and there are things I wanted to do and been dying to do and you just need to make time for certain things. And I’ve been so blessed to be there for 11 years and make the friendships that I had, but it was time.”

Gifford also told The Five she never appeared on Fox News while working at NBC because the network would not have let her.

“Now I’m free, I can go anywhere,” Gifford said, joking, “I’m going to do some porn. Why not?”

Kotb will now be on maternity leave, leaving Bush Hager to host the show with guests early on in her career.

“We want you to enjoy every single moment,” Bush Hager said on Today to Kotb. “I know we just started a new show but you know what, who cars? I’m not worried about it.”

“I’ll hold down the fort,” Bush Hager added. “You will be missed, but enjoy every moment with that beautiful baby.”

Photo credit: NBC