Hoda Kotb is bracing herself for a new start in just a few weeks, as the much-loved Today Show anchor will be leaving the NBC daytime show for good on January 10.
The TV favorite has enjoyed some downtime with her family over the holidays, and made sure to send a special message to her co-star and friend, Savannah Guthrie, who celebrated her birthday just two days after Christmas.
Hoda posted a selfie of the pair together which had been taken at her home over the summer, and wrote alongside it: “Happy bday to the finest. I love you @savannahguthrie.”
It’s been an emotional time for the long-running TV anchors, who have been co-hosting together since 2017 after Hoda took over from Matt Lauer after he was fired from the show.
Just days before Savannahs’ birthday, she made Hoda well up as she opened her thoughtful Secret Santa gift on the show.
Savannah had gifted Hoda with a very personal present, choosing to have the phrase “May you find a light to guide you home,” engraved on a placemat.
She explained through tears that it was from a song that Savannah had shown her whenever she was going through something in her life.
What’s more, Savannah also got Hoda some wishing candles. “Oh my god, it’s too much!” Hoda exclaimed.
The present was even more personal than viewers realized too, as right at the end, Hoda said: “You know what I love the most? That’s your handwriting,” as she thanked her friend.
© NBCSavannah and Hoda are incredibly close both on and off air, and have been there for each other during both the good and the bad times. Hoda was part of the dedications section in Savannah’s latest book, Mostly What God Does, which was released earlier this year.
Savannah wrote: “And if you ever find yourself attempting something hard and scary, I hope you have someone as irresistibly enthusiastic as Hoda Kotb – and her two giant pom poms – cheering you to the finish line.”
Both Savannah and Hoda are working moms and understand only too well the balance – and at times struggle – of juggling family life while fronting a morning news show.
Hoda previously opened up about working with Savannah during a chat with Good Housekeeping magazine.
© Getty ImagesShe said: “I have some nights where I really messed up and I know I did. And I come in the next morning [thinking], I feel terrible for what I did. What was I thinking? Why did I think that was going to work? They went to bed crying. Like, I don’t want that to be me. But then I talk to Savannah. She’ll say, ‘That was my Wednesday,’ it makes you feel less alone.”
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