Trending:
Hoda Kotb can’t stay away from her friends at the Today show.
On Friday, Feb. 28, Kotb made a surprise appearance on the 3rd Hour of Today, greeting her co-anchor replacement Craig Melvin and meteorologists Al Roker and Dylan Dreyer, who were reporting live from New Orleans in honor of Mardi Gras.
“Before we go any further, I think we’ve got a very special person who knows this city well,” Roker teased before cutting to a video message from Kotb.
“Hey guys, wait a minute, are you in my city? Without me?” Kotb incredulously declared. “Okay, Al, Craig, Dylan, you guys, I know what you’re going to do? Eat all the food, yes you will, listen to all the music, yes you will. Enjoy what I believe is the best city on earth. Y’all have so much without me, wah wah, happy Mardi Gras!”
Dreyer noted that New Orleans is “Hoda’s city,” with Roker sharing, “I will tell you, about 10 years ago I got to ride with Hoda on a float in the parade. It was like riding with the queen of England.”
Prior to her time on the Today show, Kotb worked as an anchor and reporter for local New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL. She frequently shows her support for the New Orleans Saints and in 2016 gave the commencement speech at the local Tulane University.
“It’s the closest to a hometown I’ve ever felt,” Kotb told Southern Living of New Orleans in June 2024. “There’s a magnetism about New Orleans that grabs you right out the gate.”
In the wake of the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street on New Year’s Day, Kotb said on air, “New Orleans is my second home and my heart broke this morning.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Though she’s been mentioned countless times on the Today show since her Jan. 10 exit, this marks Kotb’s first real appearance on the show since she stepped down from her role after 14 years in order to spend more time with her daughters Haley Joy, 9, and Hope Catherine, 5.
She did, however, take the time to surprise pal and former co-anchor Savannah Guthrie at a New Jersey event for her new children’s book earlier this week.
“Happiness is… your friend surprising — no, SHOCKING you — by showing up at your book event,” Guthrie wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of the touching moment. “@hodakotb there is just no one like you. my biggest cheerleader from beginning to end 
”
When Kotb first announced her decision to exit the NBC morning show in September 2024, she shared that she planned to stay close by.
“I plan to remain a part of the NBC family, the longest work relationship I’ve been lucky enough to hold close to my heart,” she said at the time. “I’ll be around. How could I not? Family is family and you all will always be a part of mine.”
In addition to spending time with her daughters, Kotb has also teased an upcoming wellness project in the works.
“I kind of got hooked in the wellness space, like a couple of years ago. I started doing stuff that I thought seemed woo woo and weird, and then all of a sudden as I was doing it, I was like, ‘Wait, I feel calmer, I feel better,’ ” Kotb shared on The Kelly Clarkson Show in January, saying she planned to launch a wellness app and company involving retreats and a podcast.
Read the full article here
