The Emotional Reason Hoda Kotb Is Missing *Again* From the Today Show
After more than a decade as one of America’s favorite morning show hosts, Hoda Kotb has an impressive track record, but that doesn’t mean she’s never been missing. With her recent absence from the morning show, viewers at home can’t help but wonder where Hoda Kotb is from Today and when she’s coming back. Rest assured, Today fans, because Kotb isn’t going anywhere for good.
The broadcast journalist has hosted the fourth hour of the Today show since 2007; first alongside Kathie Lee Gifford, and now, alongside Jenna Bush Hager. Kotb also serves as a co-host of the main hour, a role she’s held since 2018. In the span of her career, she’s been nominated for over 10 Daytime Emmy Awards and has won the Emmy for also an accomplished author and has published eight books, including several children’s books and the New York Times bestselling autobiography Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee.
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Where is Hoda Kotb on Today?
Kotb was missing from the September 3, 2024, episode of the Today show. Her co-host, Savannah Guthrie, explained that Kotb was absent because she was taking her daughters, Haley and Hope, for their first day of school. “Labor Day weekend was wonderful. Hoda’s off,” Guthrie said. “She’s extending a little bit ’cause it’s the first day of school for her girls.” (Kotb shares her daughters with her ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman.)
Kotb was also previously missing from the March 27, 2024, broadcast of Today. Despite appearing during the first two hours of the NBC morning show on March 27, Kotb was noticeably absent during the fourth hour, in which she typically hosts Today With Hoda and Jenna. Willie Geist, host of Sunday Today, stepped in and took her place, with Bush Hager praising his ability to “host all the shows on television.”
Neither Bush Hager nor Geist addressed Kotb’s absence and instead jumped right in to discussing Geist’s recent cameo on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Bush Hager complimented Geist on his acting chops and even suggested that he go on a daytime soap opera. “I think you could be on, like, The Young and the Restless,” she said.
Kotb’s absence came shortly after she took the previous week off for a spring break trip with her daughters, so fans speculated that her absence could’ve been family-related. The mom of two shared a series of photos from the beach vacation on Instagram, captioning the post: “Beautiful days… magical nights ??????.”
Kotb was missing again in the April 10 episode of Today, which was in the middle of her and Bush Hager’s 5th anniversary week. Today co-host Savannah joked that Kotb was out “on assignment” as Sheinelle Jones filled in for her in the third hour of Today.
Guthrie later revealed that Kotb wasn’t on Today at the time because she was “one her way to New Orleans” for Hoda & Jenna’s special fifth anniversary shows on April 11, and April 12. Kotb and Bush Hager announced they were taking Today to New Orleans for their fifth anniversary in a March 2024 episode of their show. “There’s only one place we could celebrate,” Bush Hager said, to which Kotb added, “It’s the place where we have the most fun, where we are wild. We are wild when we go there.”
She was also missing on the May 8 episode of Today, where Guthrie revealed Kotb and her co-host, Jenna Bush Hager, were traveling to Bermuda for an assignment. “Hoda’s in Bermuda with Jenna [Bush Hager], working hard,” Guthrie said, to which cohost Craig Melvin joked, “Yeah, or hardly working.”
Kotb revealed she was traveling in an Instagram post on Wednesday morning. “About to hop on a flight,” she wrote. “Brought along a great book — perfect for your graduate! Bonnie Hammer is a legend in the TV business … she is one of my trusted mentors who guided my career.”
She continued: “Without Bonnie — I would not be where I am today …. and now all of the lessons she taught me are right on the pages of this book! Xo.” (Kotb and Bush Hager interviewed Hammer about her book, 15 Lies Women Are Told at Work, on Today two days prior.)
In 2023, Kotb also took an extended leave of absence from the show due to a “family health matter.” She later revealed that Hope was hospitalized for more than a week with an undisclosed condition. Although she didn’t reveal her daughter’s diagnosis, she did share that it is now a long-term situation.
Kotb’s abrupt exit during the March 27 episode sparked speculation that something could be wrong with her daughter again. The host didn’t address her absence at time, but she had been active on social media. Hours after leaving the show, she post an Albert Einstein quote on Instagram that read: “The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.” She wrote in the caption, “Ohh I love this one xo. Which do you believe.. you get to choose…. Isn’t that fantastic? You get to choose… you decide. I will always choose friendly… goodness is all around ??.”
An episode of her Making Space podcast was also released on March 27. During the episode, Kotb revealed that she and her daughters are about to move, despite her own negative experiences with relocating as a child. “I was thinking about moving. My kids and I are going to move somewhere to a new school, and I was reflecting on my life and how many times we moved when I was a kid,” she told guest and bestselling author Arthur Brooks on the show. “And I remember once my parents moved us to Nigeria, I was in fourth grade, I was horrified. Like, we get to this place, the language was different, everybody seemed different and it was hard. I moved again in sixth grade.”
She continued: “It’s so funny because the stories I tell now as an adult, are the stories of how I endured or what I did to cope. Yet at the same time, as I’m preparing my kids, I feel like I’m trying to protect them from things that they should probably be into.”
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