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Savannah Guthrie and Jenna Bush Hager Have Become ‘Too Much’ for Hoda Kotb to ‘Stand’
Hoda Kotb has not been gelling well with coanchors Savannah Guthrie and Jenna Bush Hager in recent weeks, so she’s thrilled to be moving on from her time at Today, sources exclusively tell Closer.
“She’s got plenty of opportunities lined up,” an insider reveals. “The NBC bosses are desperate to keep her in the fold and ease her into a more serious anchor role for prime-time specials.”
The 60-year-old journalist made her big announcement about leaving Today during the show’s September 26 episode. It’s since been reported that Hoda — who will leave the show in early 2025 but still remain part of the NBC family — was being asked to cut her multimillion-dollar salary.
New opportunities at NBC such as late-night specials will be “great money” for the longtime TV personality, says the source. “And the best part of all is that she won’t be getting up at the crack of dawn, tiptoeing around Savannah, Jenna or other testy characters that were too much for her to stand towards the end.”
After many years on air with NBC, Hoda has “done it on her terms,” says the source, “and has a lot to look forward to — even with the torture of working a few months’ notice.”
While many factors contributed to her Today departure, Hoda made it clear during her announcement that she wanted more time to enjoy being a mom of two.
“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,” the broadcaster explained to viewers. “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.”
Last week, a separate source told Closer that her two children, Haley Joy and Hope Catherine, are a huge reason why she decided to take a step back in her career.
“She’s been seriously thinking about it for a while, but it really kicked in when her youngest, Hope, got sick last year,” the source said. “She really thought long and hard about her priorities after that. She realized she wanted to be home more.”
In February 2023, Hoda took time off from Today when her Hope, 5, was hospitalized due to an undisclosed illness. She shares her kids with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman.
After a hiatus from the talk show, Hoda returned to TV audiences in March 2023. “My youngest, Hope, was in the ICU for a few days and in the hospital for a little more than a week,” she told Today viewers at the time. “I’m so grateful she’s home. She is back home. I was waiting for that day to come. And we are watching her closely. I’m just so happy.”
“I’m grateful for the doctors at Weill Cornell who were amazing and the nurses,” Hoda added. “And I’m grateful to my family, and I’m grateful to friends like you who were there every single day. So, I want to say thank you for that. I love you.”
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