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Hoda Kotb will be missed on Today — but she’s left viewers with lasting memories.
In September 2024, the news anchor announced her exit from Today in a heartfelt letter to the show’s cast and crew. She explained that her daughters, Haley Joy and Hope Catherine, deserve more of her time as they grow up.
“I know I’m making the right decision, but it’s a painful one,” she wrote. “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.”
On Friday, Jan. 10, Kotb — a mainstay of Today since 2007 — made her final appearance as a co-host. Craig Melvin will step into her role as Savannah Guthrie‘s permanent co-anchor, while Jenna Bush Hager will rotate through a starry list of guest co-hosts, including Scarlett Johansson, Keke Palmer and Taraji P. Henson.
Here are 10 of Hoda’s greatest hits as the Today show host departs from the program after 18 years.
Hoda’s Breast Cancer Journey
Nearly 20 years ago, Kotb used her Today platform to document her journey with breast cancer after she discovered a lump in her breast and underwent a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery in 2007.
“I wasn’t going to say anything about it and I wanted to forget about it, but someone encouraged me to say something,” Kotb told Bush Hager in 2024 when reflecting on her decision to go public with her diagnosis.
She had only recently joined Today as a co-anchor but in October 2007 she decided to share her story on air in an interview with Ann Curry.
“I’m hoping that me telling about my journey and the kind of hell I went through will help somebody at home who thinks ‘Oh God, I’m by myself’ or ‘Oh no, there’s just me,’” she told Curry. “Because it’s not just you. It’s never just you. You know, there’s a whole bunch of us out there.”
Hoda or Yoda
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Kotb always went all-out for her Halloween costumes, but her most noteworthy was in 2009, when she donned prosthetics and green make-up to channel the famous Star Wars character Yoda. Stepping out in the Jedi Master’s signature robe and pointy ears, she wielded a lightsaber as she walked around Rockefeller Plaza with her Today crew.
‘I’m the Landing Strip’
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During a 2013 episode of the Today show, Kotb and then-co-host Kathie Lee Gifford had an NSFW conversation about female grooming habits and what they say about a person. Gifford confessed she thought “it’s just wrong” for someone to have a “landing strip,” and she later asked Kotb, “Which one are you, missy?”
“I’m the landing strip,” the broadcast journalist revealed to Gifford’s visible shock. Kotb attempted to segue into the next topic, but Gifford continued: “Boy, Hoda just told the whole world she has a landing strip. These things live on in infamy.”
iHoda’s Playlist
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Every week, Kotb would share a song from her playlist that she’s had on repeat with Gifford — like Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” — which was frequently met with shock and horror by Gifford.
Summer Oil-lympics
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While covering the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Kotb had a close-up moment with the Tongan team’s flagbearer Pita Taufatofua, who went viral for walking the opening ceremony bare-chested and covered in coconut oil while wearing traditional Tongan attire.
As Al Roker interviewed the athlete, Kotb and Bush Hager applied coconut oil to a shirtless Taufatofua on-camera, which elicited laughs from onlookers.
“There are children watching, so thank you, Pita,” Roker said, cutting the interview short. “Avert your eyes.”
Hoda Has a Baby
In 2017, Kotb announced she had adopted a baby girl named Haley, making her a first-time mother at age 52. In a phone call to her Today show family, she called Haley “the love of my life.”
Three months later, she brought her new daughter to the Today show studio on Mother’s Day weekend, enthusiastically expressing her joy over motherhood. Her co-hosts, Savannah Guthrie and Carson Daly, held and fawned over Haley during the visit.
Lizzo’s Biggest Fan
Following Lizzo’s 2022 live performance in the Today show plaza, Kotb led the pop star through the crowd to greet fans in the audience. They stopped at a 10-year-old girl named Emma, who told the “Juice” singer, “I love you so much!”
Emma’s mom Kelley Kitley tells PEOPLE, “COVID had a huge negative impact on [my daughter Emma]. She listened to Lizzo to raise her spirits by singing and dancing for hours in her room. When I informed her we won tickets to see Lizzo perform on the plaza, the night before, she couldn’t believe it!”
“That 10-year-old girl left the plaza with a huge pep in her step. That day, Lizzo and Hoda were the Sheros!” Kitley says.
(Partial) Polar Plunge
Co-host Jenna Bush Hager caught Kotb in the act as the two reviewed footage of the pair’s morning dive into cold water. Bush Hager looked appalled as she watched Kotb only dunk her head instead of fully submerging herself in the ocean.
“I thought you said we were gonna dive together,” said a betrayed Bush Hager. “All you did was just put your head gently…”
“Don’t say all I did,” Kotb replied. “I was all the way soaking wet. It just wasn’t as dramatic.”
Hoda Officiates a Wedding
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Kotb, an ordained minister, has officiated multiple weddings live on the Today show. In September 2023, she presided over the wedding between Chicago natives Ben Herbert and Mindy Shore, who got engaged on the NBC morning show in February 2020.
A visibly emotional Kotb gave a speech prior to the couple’s vows, detailing their full-circle love story. After Herbert and Shore exchanged vows, the anchor announced, “May you both always remember the way you feel in this moment, standing in front of your family and friends and these wonderful street [viewers] on the Today show plaza as I proudly pronounce you husband and wife.”
The pair returned to the Today show to surprise Kotb during her last week as host and present her with a parting gift of preserved flowers from their wedding day.
A Gift from the Bush Family
On her 60th birthday in 2024, Kotb and Bush Hager shared a sweet moment on air when the former first daughter presented a birthday gift painted by her dad, former President George W. Bush.
“I know how much your girls mean to you,” Bush Hager said during the emotional moment. “I had my dad, who has started painting, paint your favorite photo of you holding your girls.”
Hoda Signs Off
On Jan. 10, 2025, the Today show had a grand send-off for Kotb on her final day at work, with celebrity guests such as Simone Biles, Gayle King and Oprah Winfrey appearing for the anchor’s farewell. Crowds outside the studio also cheered on Kotb with posters, bracelets and gifts, and after her goodbyes to her coworkers, she stepped out to say parting words to fans.
“I read your cards. I got your bracelets. I got the scarves you crocheted. I read the texts. I got everything,” Kotb told the audience. “So I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you for coming out, for being here and for everything you did.”
Speaking to PEOPLE at the Rockefeller Center Plaza following her last morning with Today, Kotb says, “I don’t know how to describe it, but I feel like all of my dreams came to bear on this day. I’m looking around at my kids, my family, everybody who came out here this morning. I love you guys.”