Hoda Kotb may be leaving The Today Show in 2025, but one report says the daytime host will not be straying far from her home network of almost 30 years.
According to an inside source, Kotb is “not planning on disappearing from the network,” per Closer. “She’s hoping to do some specials and fill in from time to time.”
In another recent report from the outlet, a separate source also claimed that Kotb has “plenty of opportunities lined up.”
“The NBC bosses are desperate to keep her in the fold and ease her into a more serious anchor role for primetime specials,” the source claimed.
Kotb’s new role at NBC appears be in early development, but it looks like she could be considered for late-night specials, a huge pivot from her role as a staple in daytime television.
One source noted Kotb stands to make “great money” from these new opportunities at NBC. “The best part of all is that she won’t be getting up at the crack of dawn, tiptoeing around Savannah, Jenna, or other testy characters that were too much for her to stand towards the end,” they claimed, referring to Savannah Guthrie and Jenna Bush Hager.
Kotb has said previously that her daughter’s recent health scare partially influenced her decision to retire and spend more time at home with her daughters.
“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?” she recently told People.
She also teased that she is in the early stages of developing a wellness project.
“I have something that I am super excited about that’s in its infancy,” she said. “It’s a whole wellness situation, and I got lit up by that just from stuff I’ve been working on and doing on myself.” She later said she was in the process of getting a “really good wellness app together and do wellness retreats and things like that.”
For now, however, Kotb is set to stay on The Today Show and Today With Hoda & Jenna through early 2025.
With her exit, NBC will not only have to find a way to keep her on the network, but it will also have to find someone to replace her on two of their biggest daytime programs.