Subhi Agrawal
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday, Oct. 7, the 60-year-old Hoda Kotb revealed that her decision was influenced by celebrating her milestone birthday earlier this summer.
Hoda Kotb Reflects on New Beginnings at 60
“I think I’m doing this like repotting thing. You know when you pull yourself up by the roots and you’re kind of dangling and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, what am I doing? What’s happening?’ But you know you’re going to land in fertile ground,” the journalist stated.
“When I turned 60, something weird happened, man,” she added. “I turned 60 and we had this beautiful party at the Today show and I looked out at the sea of all the people who came and beautiful signs and so many well wishes and I knew in my heart like, this is it, man. This is what the mountaintop must feel like. Like I’d never had that feeling before,” as reported by People.
Kotb then revealed that she has been waking up at 3:15 a.m. for the past 17 years to do the show.
“What am I gonna do at night?” she joked before Jimmy Fallon responded that she could now go to concerts, go on dates, dine out, watch bad TV, and “do whatever the heck you want.”
“This is going to be totally weird. I’ve woken up at this time for like 17 years. This is the first time, no alarm, click it off,” she said.
Fallon, 50, then inquired about what Kotb’s daughters — Haley, 7, and Hope, 5 — thought of her decision.
“I was telling them, ‘Mommy is going to be able to take you to school,’ and they go, ‘[Gasp] Wednesday?’ ‘No honey, not Wednesday.’ ‘Next week?’ I go, ‘No honey, not next week. Probably somewhere January, February.’ They said, ‘January, February?’ I might as well continue working forever. For them, it’s like till the end.” she said.
“I Love You And It’s Time For Me To Leave The Show”
Opening up more about her choice to step away and focus on her young family, she added, “You know what, you just have a feeling when you watch them grow. I was like, they need a little more of me and I need more of them, so I think it’s all gonna work out beautifully.”
Kotb announced her departure from her anchoring duties in a letter to the staff of the NBC morning show on September 26.
As per People, she wrote, “As I write this, my heart is all over the map. I know I’m making the right decision, but it’s a painful one. And you all are the reason why. They say two things can be right at the same time, and I’m feeling that so deeply right now. I love you and it’s time for me to leave the show.”
She added that she would stay in her current role until the start of 2025 and also plans to “remain a part of the NBC family.”
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