“Today” viewers will see a little more of Hoda Kotb.
Mr. Kotb will continue to star opposite Craig Melvin on the NBC morning show, and regular co-anchor Savannah Guthrie continues to monitor the search for his mother, Nancy, in Arizona, according to a person familiar with the matter. Kotb has been co-anchor of “Today” for the past three weeks.
The source noted that Kotb has no plans to return to the program full-time and that Gasly plans to return to “Today” on his own timeline, although he may be out for an extended period of time.
Guthrie has been absent from the show since the beginning of this month. His mother, Nancy, has been missing since January 31st.
Kotb, who left the show in early 2025, has remained under contract with NBC ever since. She participates in podcasts, NBC’s annual telecast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and occasionally appears on “Today.” Kotb was originally scheduled to join Guthrie and other Today affiliates on NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage in Italy, but those plans were curtailed after Nancy Guthrie disappeared.
Kotb’s decision to stay provides a viable solution for NBC and the producers of “Today.” She is already on the show and adding someone new to the mix during such a difficult time may not be wise. Introducing someone new to replace Guthrie on a regular basis (even on an interim basis) could alienate viewers who have a long-standing relationship with her and don’t want to see her treated badly, especially under duress.
When Kotub announced his decision to retire in 2024, he cited a desire to spend time with his two young daughters. After recently celebrating her 60th birthday, she told her colleagues on the show, “I realized it was time to turn the page.” She stated that she had children later in life, and that “they deserve a bigger piece of the time pie that I have.”
Mr. Kotub joined NBC News in 1998 as a correspondent for the news magazine Dateline. She joins NBC after many years at CBS affiliate stations in Florida and Louisiana. However, she gained wider recognition in 2007 when she appeared on the fourth hour of Today, which usually airs at 10 a.m. Initially, Kotb was one of the staffers assigned to the show, but within a few months she was paired with Kathie Lee Gifford, a veteran of ABC’s syndicated show Live who had long held her own opposite Regis Philbin.
Suddenly, Kotb started talking about his dating adventures with Gifford. She was lampooned on “Saturday Night Live” and shared more about her personal life than journalists expected. “It used to be that if you hosted a morning show, even at 7 o’clock, you didn’t have to reveal too much. And I think that’s all changed now. I think now, as part of stepping into this world, you have to reveal things, because people expect more,” Kotb told Variety in 2014.
