Jason Segel MadeToday's Hoda Kotb Cry On-Air with the Sweetest Compliment: Watch

Mar. 15, 2025

Hoda Kotb and Jason Segel.Photo:Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty

Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty

Jason Segelis making sureHoda Kotbknows her time atTodaywas appreciated.

“I’m gonna miss you when you’re gone,” Segel said, referring to Kotb recentlyannouncing her departurefrom the NBC News morning show.

Hoda Kotb and Jason Segel, October 2024.Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty

A teary-eyed Kotb replied, “Wow, thanks,” before getting up to hug her guest.

On Sept. 26, the famed broadcast journalist revealed she would be leaving the program after 17 years of anchoring the show and 25 years total working for the network.

“I know I’m making the right decision, but it’s a painful one. And you all are the reason why. 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,” Kotb continued.

Hoda Kotb has announced that she is leaving TODAY early next year.TODAY

TODAY

During a live episode that day, she shared that her reason behind the massive decision was to spend more time with her daughters Haley, 7, and Hope, 4, who “need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie.”

Kotb shared that she will remain with the show until the beginning of next year.

After announcing her exit,Kotb spoke exclusively to PEOPLEabout how she knew it was the right time to move on to the next chapter.

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on the Today Show on Monday, November 1, 2021.Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

“I’ve kind of been contemplating, wondering, thinking about what I wanted this next chunk of my life to look like as I turned 60. And I like adventure,I like new beginnings. I’m a sunrise person and not a sunset person, and I was wondering, what does it look like for me?” she said.

She also touched on Hope’s February 2023medical crisis.

“We’re in a place where Hope is thriving. She is improving, we’re watching her, and I think that as time goes on, we’ll have a better handle on it, but we’re already seeing great differences,” Kotb told PEOPLE. “We have really excellent care, I have people who are helping us out. I feel like she is finding steady footing.”

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She weighed her options, but ultimately went with being there for her girls, who are in second grade and kindergarten.

“It does make more sense to stay at NBC. I’m financially secure and I would have job security. I mean, why would you ever not do that? But I’ve been watching my kids and I was thinking to myself, I wonder what I’m missing?”

Kotb told PEOPLE she wanted her time “to be filled with more of them.”

source: people.com