Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford Just Reunited on ‘Today’

Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford are passing on the torch to Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones — literally!

The former TODAY co-hosts surprised the audience with a reunion on Monday’s episode of the NBC morning show, as they made a dramatic entrance to celebrate Bush Hager and Jones’ new partnership on Today with Jenna & Sheinelle.

Kotb and Gifford, who used to host the fourth hour from 2008 to 2019, shocked Bush Hager and Jones when they showed up on Jones’ official first day as Kotb’s replacement wearing Team USA garb in order to hand off the “torch” — an oversized wine glass with a fake flame inside.

“Can we just say how awesome you two look together?” said Kotb, who stepped down from her role at TODAY in January 2025. “How amazing this day already is. Y’all look so sweet together.”

As Jones broke down in tears, Bush Hager quipped, “She was like, ‘I shouldn’t be crying!’ I’m like, ‘You’re at the right spot if you’re crying.’” Kotb agreed, “And you’re also next to the biggest crier I’ve ever met ever: Jenna Bush Hager.”

Jones went on to thank Gifford for having “invented the genre” that TODAY fans have come to know and love, telling her, “I used to watch and I used to say I was a news girl and I’m like, ‘I don’t know if I can do that.’”

“When I got the job, [I said to you], ‘Just so you know, I see you, and I know you were a trailblazer in the genre,’” she continued. “And you were like, ‘Oh, I know.’”

“This is learning, by the way, at the seat of the master,” Kotb added of Gifford. “This is how it works. I learned from this girl, and then I was scared to go off on my own, and then I met this girl [Bush Hager], and I was so proud the day you walked out — I’ll never forget it. And now you are welcoming this girl.”

Bush Hager said tearfully, “Well, y’all built the institution, and we love both of you. You’ve been so generous.”

Jones revealed that she had also received “45 seconds of wisdom” from Kotb before taking her spot, which had changed everything. “She goes, ‘Don’t say anything, just listen,’” Jones recalled, adding that her predecessor had also told her, “You’re gonna talk about how this was a moment that changed your career, and it was the best decision, for your kids, for you. Working with Jenna, it’s gonna be better than you could ever imagine.”