Hoda Kotb to Leave TODAY Show, Launch Wellness Venture

Hoda Kotb, the longtime co-anchor of NBC‘s TODAY show, is set to leave the morning news program after 17 years. Her final appearance will be on Jan. 10, 2025. Kotb announced her departure in September, citing a desire to focus on her family and launch a new wellness venture.

On the Jan. 6 episode of TODAY, Kotb revealed more details about her upcoming project. “I am starting a wellness app and company that will involve retreats, a podcast, and all kinds of things that we can get together, do things that I love,” she said. Kotb emphasized that her wellness initiative aims to provide transformative experiences, unlike typical leisure activities. “It’s not like going to Mexico with your girls, which is fun, but this is something that when you leave, you’ll go like, ‘Oh my gosh. I feel transformed. I feel different.'”

Kotb, 60, admitted that her interest in wellness began with skepticism. “I started doing stuff that I thought seemed woo-woo and weird,” she said. “Then all of a sudden, as I was doing it, I was like, ‘Wait, I feel calmer. I feel better.’ Woo-woo makes you feel good.”

In addition to her professional pivot, Kotb has been vocal about prioritizing time with her daughters, Haley Joy, 7, and Hope Catherine, 5. She shared her plans to adjust her daily routine to spend more quality time with them. “I’ve found out, in my town, there’s a 5:30 Soul Cycle class which I’m going to start,” she told TODAY in October. “Then I’m going to go back and feed my kids breakfast and I am going to make a coffee to go in my Yeti.”

Kotb also expressed her excitement about simple, meaningful moments with her children. “I’m going to walk my kids down the beautiful streets to their school and I’m going to kiss them goodbye,” she said. The decision to leave TODAY was heavily influenced by her desire to be more present in her daughters’ lives. “Obviously I had my kiddos late in life,” she said during her September announcement. “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.”

Kotb’s journey to this decision was also shaped by a poignant moment with her daughter Hope. While watching Hope climb a tree, Kotb asked her what she would do next. Hope’s response—”I guess I’ll find a different tree”—resonated deeply with Kotb. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh.’ So sometimes the world starts showing you. So I kind of knew that it was time to try something different,” she explained.

As she prepares for her final day on TODAY, Kotb looks forward to embracing her new chapter, balancing her wellness venture with cherished moments as a mother. “All I want to do is walk my kids to school,” she said. “And it’s the simplest thing, with a cup of coffee, walking your kids to school. But all the little things, you get to see growth.”