Signs We Saw Hoda Kotb's Today Exit Coming From A Mile Away

On September 26, Hoda Kotb announced she was saying au revoir to the "Today" show. "I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new," she divulged , all while surrounded by her longtime "Today" comrades, including Savannah Guthrie, Jenna Bush Hager, Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones and Craig Melvin. "I remembered standing outside looking at these beautiful bunch of people with these gorgeous signs, and I thought, 'This is what the top of the wave feels like for me.' And I thought it can't get better, and I decided that this is the right time for me to kind of move on." 

Following Kotb's retirement revelation, many "Today" viewers who have been privy to Kotb's life and career through the years were shocked. "I can't believe it!" Yashar Ali penned in part on X, formerly known as Twitter. Meanwhile, another tweeted, "HODA KOTB I did NOT give you permission to leave me!!!!!!!!!" Alas, it appears Kotb's decision has actually been a long time coming. In fact, there were actually a couple of telltale signs that Kotb's "Today" exit was coming from a mile away — namely her beloved daughters, Haley and Hope. 

According to Hoda Kotb, her daughters were a major factor in her decision to retire. "Obviously I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have. I feel like we only have a finite amount of time" she explained live on the "Today" show. "And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world."

As you may recall, Kotb and her then-fiance, Joel Schiffman, welcomed their two adopted daughters Haley and Hope in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Alas, it wasn't long before Kotb became well acquainted with all of the pressures and challenges that come with being a working mom. In July, Kotb scored the opportunity of a lifetime to sojourn to Paris, France to cover the 2024 Olympics. As any working mom knows, however, the professional trip also proved to be bittersweet as that meant she would have to leave her girls for two weeks. Luckily, Kotb devised a plan to help her young girls pass the time quickly. Enter: "Love You Loops," a chain made entirely of construction paper with one link for each day that she would be away. "I do a loop a day where we hide a little something like stickers or hair ties, and then they know how many days are left," Kotb said during the July 22 episode of "Today with Hoda & Jenna" (via People). Perhaps now is the perfect time for Kotb to have a Paris redo, this time with both of her girls in tow!