Hoda Kotb is pulling back the curtain on her Today show tenure in her new book, Jump and Find Joy: Embracing Change in Every Season of Life.
Kotb, 61, got her start in local news before joining NBC as a Dateline correspondent in 1998. After battling breast cancer, Kotb’s perspective on life changed and she pitched herself to become a cohost of the fourth hour of Today — a moment she chronicles in her new memoir, out now.
“‘I want that job on the fourth hour of Today,’ I said. ‘I think I’d be good at it. I know you see me a certain way, but I can do this, and…’ And then I started crying and I couldn’t stop!” Kotb wrote, recalling her conversation with NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Zucker.
Kotb held her role as a fourth hour cohost — and ultimately, Savannah Guthrie’s coanchor — from 2007 until she announced her departure in 2024. Earlier this year, Kotb officially said goodbye to the NBC morning show.
Scroll down for more of Kotb’s revelations about the Today show in her new memoir:
Hoda Kotb Talks Lack of ‘Spark’ Between Ann Curry and Natalie Morales
In 2007, Kotb recalled an exchange in which she was directed to “discuss stuff in the news” with Ann Curry and Natalie Morales. While Kotb said the trio of ladies “tried,” she noted that they “weren’t saying things that mattered to the people listening.”
“Our conversations were a big yawn. With no experience as chatty talk show hosts, our vibe felt stuff and cold- and our viewers felt the chill. Everyone could tell there wasn’t a spark!” Kotb wrote.
Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford Jessica Miglio / © NBC / courtesy Everett Collection
Hoda Kotb Recalls Kathie Lee Gifford Joining ‘Today’
On a day when Curry and Morales were both off, Kotb shared that she and a producer went to a restaurant, where they bumped into Kathie Lee Gifford, who had previously been part of the cohosting duo on Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee. During the run-in, Kotb noted that the producer suggested Gifford cohost the show.
Gifford joined the program in 2007, where Kotb wrote she “pulled a Springsteen and brought a much-needed spark to the fourth hour.”
“She showed up to the Today set like a lit firecracker! Boobs out, hair extensions in, exploding with energy, and sharing amazing stories about her days with her kids and former talk show cohost Regis Philbin,” Kotb wrote.
Later, Kotb recalled going to lunch with Gifford and feeling “things out” with their friendship. “Days later, Kathie Lee went to my bosses and told them, ‘I’ll do it, but I’m only going to do it with Hoda, nobody else,’” Kotb claimed. “Incredible! I still can’t believe that all happened, but I’m so grateful that it did.”
Hoda Kotb Recalls Maria Shriver’s Advice to Jenna Bush Hager
After Gifford left the show in 2019, Kotb continued to cohost the fourth hour with Jenna Bush Hager — the daughter of former President George W. Bush. Elsewhere in the book, Kotb recalled a poignant moment between Maria Shriver and Bush Hager.
“Maria said to Jenna, ‘I just want to tell you something. And I hope you don’t take offense to this. But I flew here yesterday, and the TSA guy said to me, ‘Aren’t you a Kennedy?’ Jenna, I’ve worked my whole life to be Maria Shriver,” Kotb wrote. “But now I’m in my sixties, and they still think, ‘Aren’t you a Kennedy?’ So, I don’t know what you’re trying to prove, but make sure you’re doing it because you love it and it fills you up. And not because you need to prove anything, because you don’t.”
Hoda Kotb’s Daughter Made Her Realize It Was Time to Leave ‘Today’
Before Kotb’s exit, she noted that daughter Hope helped her “put words to [her] feelings.” (Kotb adopted daughters Haley and Hope in 2017 and 2019, respectively, with then-partner Joel Schiffman.)
“One day, she and I went out for a walk, and we came upon the tree she loved to climb. Her tree, as she likes to call it. She started her trip up the tree, grabbing its branches and hoisting her little body higher and higher. As she neared the top, she stopped and called down to me,” Kotb wrote.
Kotb continued, “‘Mom, what am I going to do when I get to the top of this tree?’ I smiled and said, ‘I don’t know. What are you going to do?’ She thought for a moment, then looked me right in the eye and said, ‘I guess I’ll find another tree.’ And there it was. There was no denying what I knew deep down inside. I was ready to find myself another tree.”
Hoda Kotb Reveals 1st Person She Told Of Her ‘Today’ Exit
Kotb noted that the day she broke the news of her exit to her cohosts began just like any other — she woke up at 3:30 a.m., showered, meditated and wrote in her journal before traveling to the office.
“I remember feeling a crazy mix of emotions, my big news about to move from my heart to my lips,” she wrote. “I knew the words I was about to share were. Unexpected, and that my decision would affect a wide range of coworkers and their plans. The list of people I needed to tell was log, and the order in which I told them was important to me.”
Kotb revealed that the first person she reached out to was the executive vice president of Today and NBC News, Libby Leist. When she asked Leist to her office, Kotb “sat quietly, my candles lit, Emilia Jones’ cover of Joni Mitchell’s song ‘Both Sides Now’ playing in the background.”
“When Libby walked in, she took one look at me and said, ‘Oh no.’ And I just started talking. I told her that I was thinking a lot about this time in my life and about numbers and how I felt about the math. 26 years at NBC News, 10 years at Dateline, 7 on the seven o’clock hour, 16 on the ten o’clock hour. And I just turned 60,” Kotb wrote.
She continued, “Libby listened as I explained that I’d been asking myself what I wanted the next decade to look like. And that the answer was I wanted it to be different from my fifties. I wanted it to have more adventure, and I wanted to chase something, try something scary, go for something that didn’t have a net. I said that my family formed in my fifties, and now my professional life would transform in my sixties. I told her that I knew I’d have more financial security if I stayed at NBC but that I had to think about my kids. When you wait so long for children – like I did – you don’t want to miss your time with them.”
Kotb said Leist “burst into tears” and said she was “proud” of her friend but admitted she was “kind of freaking out.”
How Savannah Guthrie Reacted to Hoda Kotb’s ‘Today’ Exit
After telling Leist, Kotb went on to call Guthrie — whom she wanted to tell in person but was traveling overseas for a wedding.
“I reached her by phone and then waited as she tried to find a private place to talk. When I was done sharing my news, she got very quiet. Then she said, ‘God, you’ve got balls,’ I laughed. ‘You’ve got courage,’ she continued. ‘I’ll mourn for me and our show later, but right now, I’m just marveling at this whole thing. You’re leaving something that’s like gold in your hands, not because you don’t love it anymore, not because you’re tired of it; you’re just deciding. And that kind of leaving is really something to marvel at,’” Kotb wrote.
Jenna Bush Hager, Hoda Kotb and Talia Parkinson-Jones Nathan Congleton/NBC
Hoda Kotb Recalls Telling Jenna Bush Hager About ‘Today’ Departure
When Kotb told Bush Hager and executive producer Talia Parkinson-Jones, she recalled the trio meeting in her office and sitting on the couch.
“Then, I began. ‘I have to tell you something…’ but before I could get another word out, they both shouted, ‘No, no, no, no!’ I kept trying to speak but they wouldn’t let me, saying that word over and over. Finally, I managed to tell them that this would be my last contract,” Kotb recalled. “Jenna started crying, saying through tears, ‘I only did this because I’m with you. You chose me, and we chose us, and now it’s us. This is our show.’”
Kotb shared that Parkinson-Jones asked her to stay for “just one more year,” but she remained firm on her decision, noting that she wanted to “be able to be there for my girls and do basic things like walk them to school.”
“That’s when Jenna jumped in to say she could make that work. She was sure if I stayed on, it could be arranged for me to walk them to school one time. One time! We laughed at that. I knew their reactions were coming from a place of such kindness and love,” Kotb wrote.
Why Al Roker Hung Up the Phone on Hoda Kotb After Sharing Her Decision to Leave ‘Today’
Kotb shared that her final call was to “longtime buddy” Al Roker. “No surprise, Roker did something funny when I told him my news. He said, ‘OK, bye,’ and hung up. He hung up on me!” Kotb wrote. “I thought, well, he sure got over that fast. But about five minutes later, he called back. ‘I was just so shocked,’ he explained, ‘and I couldn’t process what you were saying.’”
Jump and Find Joy is out now.
