News from Hoda Kotb‘S Today The departure of her co-hosts is a double whammy for her.

“I just turned 60 and it was such a monumental moment for me when I turned 60 because I started thinking about that decade, what does that decade mean? What does it hold? What is it going to mean to me?” Kotb, 60, shared through tears on the Thursday, September 26, episode of Today“And I realized that at 60 it was time to turn the page and try something new.”

Kotb explained that she made the decision to leave Today shortly after her 60th birthday in August.

“I remember standing outside and looking at this beautiful group of people with all these beautiful signs, and I thought, ‘This is what the crest of the wave feels like for me,’ and I thought, ‘It can’t get any better.’ And (I) decided this was the right time to move on,” she said. “And then I thought about — obviously, I had my kids late in life — and I thought, they deserve a bigger share of my time, the pie that I have. I feel like we only have a limited amount of time. And so, with all that said, this is the hardest thing in the world.”

Kotb — who shares daughters Haley, 7, and Hope, 5, with her ex-fiancé, Joel Schiffman — noted that she will continue Today until Jan. 1, 2025. “I’m going to stay in the NBC family,” she added. “But it’s kind of a big deal for me.”

Scroll down to see how the Today show family responded to the news of Kotb’s departure:

Savannah Guthrie

“Hoda, we love you so much, and when you look around and you see those tears, it’s love. You’re so loved. And honestly, I don’t think any of us can imagine this — we don’t want to imagine this place without you,” Guthrie, 52, said through tears in the second hour of Today‘s Thursday episode. “So, it’s complicated because we love you so much and we don’t ever want you to go away.”

Kotb’s co-anchor went on to say that she is “so proud” of her friend, adding: “You have guts. For someone to leave at the peak of their powers, to leave something that’s amazing, that you love, where it’s easy and comfortable and beautiful and fun and say, ‘But I’m dreaming bigger for myself…’ You have so much guts. You inspire me. I love you.”

Related: Hoda Kotb’s Sweetest Family Photos Through the Years

Hoda Kotb has often swooned over how much her loved ones have defined her life — particularly her daughters, Haley and Hope. The Today host became a mother when she adopted her little ones in 2017 and 2019, respectively, with her then-partner, Joel Schiffman. The former couple got engaged in 2019 after six years of dating (…)

In the third hour of the show, the camera panned to show Guthrie getting emotional as he ate leftovers from the second hour’s cooking segment. “Nobody takes the news worse than Savannah Guthrie,” Craig Melvin joked.

Guthrie, meanwhile, noted: “We can combine our sadness at missing her and the fact that we love her so much with our gratitude that it happened. … And just the joy and admiration for her courage.”

Jenna Bush Hager

“Hoda told me a couple days ago, and when she told me, my first reaction was gut instinct and almost crazy. … I said, ‘No, you can’t leave,'” Bush Hager, 42, said through a stream of tears on Thursday’s episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna.

“You’re the one I come to when I’m feeling happy, when I’m feeling insecure. You’re the one I come to and you believed in me first,” she continued. “We have a lot of bosses and I love them, but this lady, on October 28, 2013 — I looked it up — she said, ‘Hey, do you want to sit next to me? There’s room.'”

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Hoda Kotb isn’t letting breakups get in the way of enjoying herself and finding love again. “Life is beautiful. Try things, go out, get out of your house and your apartment,” Kotb told Entertainment Tonight in March 2024. “I feel like life is meant to be experienced and (you should) step into it. I (…)

Bush Hager noted that she called her father, the former president George W. Bushon Wednesday, September 25. “He was like, ‘Oh, she’s leaving because it’s time, and you’re going to be okay. It’s your turn. It’s okay,'” she shared, prompting Kotb to stand up and give her a round of applause.

“Your turn,” Kotb told her cohost. “And whoever is sitting in that seat, whoever is sitting in that seat, is going to have the easiest job in the world, because they’re sitting right next to you.”

Sheinelle Jones

“The one thing people know about this group is that we’re family. And I’ll tell you, Hoda has a relationship with everyone on this couch in her own way, so I think we’re all struggling a little bit,” Jones, 46, said as she sat on a couch with Kotb and her colleagues Thursday. “But we also know what a dynamic mother you are, and a presence you are. And your whole movement with wellness. You’re going to change the world. And we know that.”

During the third hour of the show, she praised Kotb and Guthrie for making waves as Today‘s first all-female anchor team in 2018. “You two have been such pioneers. With two sisters leading a national morning, you’ve changed the game and made it, now, somewhat normal,” she cheered. “It’s like, OK. And you two, you did that.”

Al Roker

“I’ve never known anyone like you. I’ve known you my whole life and I love you,” Roker, 70, said in the second hour Thursday Today. He later noted that while the cast “will think about what it means for us,” it’s more about what the decision will mean for Kotb. “We couldn’t be happier.”

Craig Melvin

Melvin, 45, responded to the news of Kotb’s departure by praising her for being the same person on and off screen. “People in this business, when that little red light, when it goes off, they’re different people. We’ve worked with all these people before. You’re the opposite,” she said in the second hour of Thursday’s episode. Today. “When that little red light goes off, you’re exactly what people see you as in the morning — just the biggest heart. You’ve been the heart of the show for a long time and you can’t replace that.”

In the third hour he added, “It’s sad news for us, but great news for Hope and Haley.”

Tom Llamas

During the Hurricane Helene report in the third hour of Thursday Todaythe NBC News correspondent joked, “About 40 minutes ago I almost got run over and the crew said, ‘Was that Helene?’ I said, ‘No, that wasn’t Helene. That was the Hoda news.'”