Hoda Kotb returned to 30 Rockefeller Plaza to pay her former fourth hour of Today cohost a visit.
Kotb, 60, surprised Jenna Bush Hager backstage at the NBC morning show ahead of the Tuesday, March 11, episode of Today With Jenna & Friends. “We had the best surprise in our briefing meeting this morning!! @hodakotb dropped in to show her love and support for @jennabhager and @dwyanewade 🫶 #JennaandFriends,” the show’s Instagram page captioned a clip of the behind-the-scenes moment.
Kotb’s arrival shocked Bush Hager, 43, who stood up from her hair and makeup chair to hug her pal. “What is happening?” she shouted. Kotb replied by stating she “had to come in for a second.”
Kotb went on to praise Dwyane Wade, who is cohosting Jenna & Friends with Bush Hager all week. “You’re crushing it,” she told the former NBA athlete while leaning in for a hug. “You’re so good, it’s sick.” Bush Hager agreed with Kotb’s statement, adding, “Isn’t he so good?”
Nathan Congleton/NBC Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager formed a strong bond both on and off the small screen. Kotb and Bush Hager joined NBC’s Today in 2007 and 2009, respectively, and went on to cohost the show’s fourth hour together following Kathie Lee Gifford’s 2019 exit. For over five years, the duo made fans […]
Bush Hager later shared the post via her Instagram Story on Tuesday, writing, “Made my day 🥹 @hodakotb.” Wade, 43, also reposted the video on his profile, captioning the video, “Legend in the building.”
The moment seemingly marked Kotb’s first time on the Today set since filming her final episode on January 10. “I’ve become who I am on this hour of this show, and you were there with me every step of the way,” she said in a video package aired during her last Jenna & Friends episode. “So, as I sit here today in my final moments on this final day in this chapter of my career, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my very full heart for the ride of a lifetime. I love you.”
Since her exit, Craig Melvin has taken over Kotb’s role as Savannah Guthrie’s coanchor. Bush Hager has continued to cohost the fourth hour with a rotating lineup of guest hosts, including Wade, Scarlett Johansson, Regina Hall, Heather McMahan, Ego Nwodim, Ciara, Keke Palmer and more.
Kotb previously reunited with Bush Hager and Guthrie, 53, after attending the first live taping of Willie Geist’s Today Sunday Sitdown Live. “I love Wednesdays!! @savannahguthrie @jennabhager,” she captioned a January 22 Instagram selfie of the trio grabbing dinner. “Also remember when you had that big goodbye party and now I am like … HIIIIIIIIIIII!”
Kotb returned to Today via a video message on the show’s Monday, March 10, episode to announce her new book, Jump and Find Joy. “Everybody in their life, at one point, stands on the edge of something and says, ‘Should I jump? Should I try? Should I go for it?’” she said. “And I felt that way about the Today show, and I was terrified to even think about jumping.”
Kotb went on to state, “Here’s my thing, you get one life. That’s all. That’s it. It’s ready for the taking. It only takes a jump.”
Last month, Kotb exclusively told Us Weekly that she has “no FOMO” after leaving her longtime role on Today. “[It] doesn’t mean I didn’t love it. At the end when my heart broke, I was like, ‘That’s love.’ But it also is, I feel like my gaze is set forward,” she explained. “I never had a second thought because some things can be hard and right.”
