Hoda Kotb denied rumors she is taking over Kelly Clarkson’s eponymous talk show while returning to the “Today” show four months after exiting the NBC program.
Kotb’s former co-hosts, Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin, pressed her on the gossip Wednesday morning, prompting her to reply, “Delete. Delete. That’s not true.”
She added, “I want to ask you all a real question. … Do you know the only place I would ever come back [to TV] is? Right here, this is the spot. There’s no place like home.”
She then confirmed Page Six’s report that she will be appearing on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” just “for fun.”
Insiders have been buzzing with rumors that Kotb was on a short list to replace the singer. However, multiple sources confirmed to us this week that she won’t be taking Clarkson’s spot as the journalist is focusing her efforts on her eponymous wellness brand.
Kotb explained Wednesday that instead of returning to the anchor chair, she has been spending her time “prioritizing feeling healthy” before announcing the launch of her health app, Joy 101, which curates a special program to help with one’s mental health management.
Kotb is scheduled to join former co-star Jenna Bush Hager as a guest on “Today with Jenna & Friends” later Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, Bush Hager, 43, revealed to viewers that Kotb, 60, would be making a fleeting return to her former post.
“For one day only, Hoda Kotb is back!” Bush Hager shared while teasing that Kotb will be “announcing her new project.”
“We feel so excited,” Bush Hager added. “I was texting her at 5:30 this morning, as one does. I can’t wait!”
Kotb’s Wednedsay appearance marked the first time she has returned to the anchor’s chair since saying her tearful goodbyes in January after 26 years with the network.
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“Can I just say thank you? I haven’t been able to articulate it, because I’m a mess most times, but I just want to say thanks,” she said while crying through her last episode.
The veteran broadcaster announced that she would be ending her co-hosting reign in September 2024.
“I decided this is the right time for me to kind of move on. And so with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world,” she admitted at the time.
However, Kotb acknowledged that she would still return for occasional visits as she wasn’t ready to say goodbye for good.
Kotb decided it was time to hang up her “Today” show hat so she could focus on other endeavors in the wellness space.
She also wanted to be able to spend more time with her two daughters: Haley Joy, 9, and Hope Catherine, 5.
“I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have,” she explained last year.