A terrifying emergency changed Hoda’s perspective on life

TODAY star Hoda Kotb has revealed the “simplest thing” she can’t wait to do when she leaves the morning TV show in the new year.

The 60-year-old’s final episode isn’t until January 10, but she’s already relishing the thought of being able to walk her daughters Haley, seven, and Hope, five, to school.

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Hoda Kotb is excited for life after Today when she steps down in JanuaryCredit: Getty

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The single mom will get to spend more time with daughter Hayley and HopeCredit: Instgram/hodakotb

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Family is at the heart of Hoda’s future plansCredit: Instagram / hodakotb
Speaking on her Making Space podcast, Hoda explained: “It’s funny. When I was mentioning here that I was going to leave the Today show, one of our producers came upstairs in the makeup room, and she said, ‘I want to say something to you.’ She goes, ‘My mother walking me to school every day was the best memory I’ve ever had.’

“And all I want to do is walk my kids to school. 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.”

The single mom, who has been Today co-anchor for close to seven years, had a perspective shift last year when Hope was hospitalized in a “scary crisis” that left her in intensive care for close to a week.

A source recently told us: “When Hope was sick and hospitalized, everything changed for her with her views on work.”

Hoda was in her fifties when she became a mom with her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman, 65, and she’s well aware of how quickly the years are passing.

“Obviously I had my kiddos late in life,” she said. “I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have. I we only have a finite amount of time.”

Then there is the increasingly difficult early morning wake-up calls to contend with.

Hoda acknowledged that rising to an alarm clock at 4am was getting tougher with each year that passed.

She said: “I think people don’t realize to be on morning TV, it’s like being an athlete. Your whole life is about that.”

Her exit wasn’t knee-jerk decision and bosses battled for a year to keep her on the show.

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Today anchor Hoda Kotb’s replacement revealed to be Craig Melvin – who says he’s ‘beyond excited and grateful’ for gig

Station chiefs offered her a pay rise but family proved more important than a bigger paycheck.

Fans only have to take a quick look at Hoda’s Instagram page to see how besotted she is with her girls.

Last week she took her eldest to the theatre and wrote: “Great day with my little girl!”

For Halloween, Hoda dressed in a pumpkin onesie and beamed in between her two girls.

While back in September she looked super proud of her youngest on her first day at school.

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The TV star’s youngest daughter, Hope, started school in SeptemberCredit: Instagram/ hodakotb

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Hoda wants to make every moment with Haley and Hope countCredit: Instagram/hodakotb

NEW CHAPTER

Her departure from Today doesn’t mark the end of Hoda’s television career, though.

An insider said that she will be staying within the NBC family and will be changing gears to special correspondent work and interviewing celebrities in long-format segments.

She plans to continue recording her podcast and writing children’s books.

Come January 13, Hoda’s co-anchor role will be taken over by Craig Melvin, who will partner Savanah Guthrie.

He said: “I am beyond excited and grateful. I’ve enjoyed just a lifetime of blessings, and this is the latest in a long line of blessings.”