Hoda Kotb made the tough decision to leave ‘Today’ partly because of her kids

With one announcement, Hoda Kotb marked the end of an era at the Today show this week. After nearly 30 years on the show, Kotb is planning to leave her two anchor chairs early next year, changing morning television for an entire generation who have grown accustomed to starting their days with her familiar face and voice.

But Kotb’s reason for her departure will be familiar to so many people. In an emotional letter she penned to the Today show’s staff, she shared that she’s stepping away so she can spend more time with her family—her two kids, as well as her aging mother.

“As I write this, my heart is all over the map,” she wrote. “I know I’m making the right decision, but it’s a painful one.”

Kotb started her journey with NBC in 1998, when she landed a job as a correspondent for Dateline. In 2007, she moved to the Today show, leading its fourth hour. Despite her decades-long career at the network, Kotb said during a conversation with her co-hosts on the show earlier this week that both the COVID-19 pandemic and her 60th birthday in August made her start thinking about a change.

“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” she said. “Obviously I 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.”

Hoda Kotb leaving ‘Today’

Kotb is a mom to two daughters: 7-year-old Haley and 4-year-old Hope.

Her co-host, Savannah Guthrie, was emotional when she responded to Kotb’s announcement.

“For someone to leave at the top of their game, to leave something that’s wonderful that you love, where it’s easy and comfortable and beautiful and fun, and say, ‘But I dream bigger for myself into the great unknown.’ You have so much guts. You inspire me,” Guthrie said.

Kotb then got emotional herself, and added, through tears, “I’ve been weighing this decision for quite a while—Am I truly ready? But, my 60th birthday celebration on the Plaza felt like a shift. Like a massive, joyful YES, you are! I saw it all so clearly: My broadcast career has been beyond meaningful, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mom need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie. I will miss you all desperately, but I’m ready and excited.”