Known for stepping away from morning TV to spend more time with her daughters, Hoda Kotb made walking back onto the Today set look effortless. One hour beside Jenna Bush Hager was all it took for viewers to start asking for more than a single morning.
Kotb, 62, filled in for Sheinelle Jones on the Monday, Nov. 9, episode of Today With Jenna & Sheinelle while Jones was in Los Angeles being honored at the 2026 EBONY Power 100 awards. Bush Hager had previewed the appearance that morning, likening it to a trip back to the “olden times.” After the episode aired, fans called for Kotb to return to the show in some capacity. “Omg I missed her SO much. Jenna and Hoda are the dream team!” one Reddit user wrote. Another viewer suggested on Instagram, “I feel we should ask Hoda to be the guest cohost when someone needs time off.”
The reunion felt familiar from the opening minutes. “I walked in here, and I saw you walk into my little dressing room, and it was like not a day had passed,” Kotb told Bush Hager. “That’s how life works, and it is true. Anybody who has a true, real friend knows this feeling.”
Kotb and Bush Hager co-hosted the fourth hour of Today from 2019 until Kotb’s exit. She announced her departure in September 2024, explaining at the time, “I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and to try something new.” Her final day came in January 2025. Craig Melvin took over as Savannah Guthrie’s co-anchor, and Bush Hager led the fourth hour with a rotating lineup of celebrity guests until Jones became her permanent partner in January 2026. Jones had co-hosted the show’s third hour since 2019.
Back at the desk, Kotb noted that the team had “spiffed the place up” since she left. She also described the upside of no longer setting an alarm before dawn. “You get to decide your schedule,” she said.
The hour also turned personal. Kotb shared that she and ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman dressed as “deviled eggs” for Halloween alongside their daughters, Haley, 9, and Hope, 7. “This is one of those things that as the girls are getting older, having their dad there is much more important, I think, than ever,” she said. Bush Hager also pressed her for an update on the mystery man she met on a plane earlier this year.
Since leaving Today, Kotb has written a book, launched a wellness company and made other guest appearances on the show. In January, she also announced a new talk show, Joy Rides, through her wellness brand. Monday marked her latest return to the fourth hour, and viewers made clear they would welcome more mornings like it.
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