Kathie Lee Gifford Calls Hoda Kotb 'Today' Exit a 'Bittersweet' Moment

Gifford and Kotb hosted the fourth hour of 'Today' together for 11 years until Gifford exited in 2019.

By Megan Behnke

After it was announced that Hoda Kotb would be leaving the Today Show in early 2025, Kathie Lee Gifford is speaking out about her former co-host. Kotb and Gifford ran the fourth hour of Today for 11 years, from 2008 to 2019. While it's been five years since Gifford said her goodbyes, she still cares for Kotb as much as ever, taking to X after she made her announcement, calling the exit "bittersweet."

"Bittersweet news as my dear friend Hoda Kotb steps away from the Today Show," Gifford wrote. "Her warmth, laughter, and incredible spirit have brightened our mornings and touched countless hearts." Gifford ended the post with, "Here's to new adventures!" alongside the clinking glasses emoji. She also shared a couple of sweet photos from their time together on Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda, and it's clear they still mean a lot to each other.

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(Photo: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)

Kotb made the emotional announcement on Today on Sept. 26. She joined the morning talk show as a co-host for the fourth hour in 2007 and became a featured co-anchor in 2017. Since 2018, she's been a co-anchor with Savannah Guthrie. The reason for her departure is because she wants to spend more time with her two young daughters, Haley Joy, 7, and Hope Catherine, 4, whom she adopted in 2017 and 2019, respectively.

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"I just turned 60, and it was such a monumental moment for me when I turned 60 years old because I started thinking about that decade... I realized it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and try something new," Kotb shared. "I decided this is the right time for me to move on. I obviously had my kiddos late in life and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have. I feel like we only have a finite amount of time. And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world."

In a message to colleagues, Hoda Kotb wrote that her "time at NBC has been the longest professional love affair of my life. But only because you've been beside me on this twenty-six-year adventure. Looking back, the math is nuts. 26 years at NBC News – Ten years at Dateline, seven on the seven o'clock hour, sixteen on the ten o'clock hour. I'm picturing your faces and your families and all the ways you've lifted me up and inspired me. That's my heart singing. So many of my professional relationships have become some of my most cherished friendships."

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