The Moment That BROUGHT TEARS Hoda Kotb’s UNEXPECTED Gesture To Her Ex-Today Team MONTHS After She Quietly Walked Away

Hoda Kotb makes a return to the TODAY show after four months since her departure and gives an update on her life. Before heading to the studio, she did something that surprised her former co-workers.

Hoda Kotb came back to TODAY after four months since her depature(Image: TODAY)
Hoda Kotb made a return on the TODAY show and surprised her former co-workers while doing it.

The journalist came on the show with Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin as a guest to share an update on her life and also promote her new wellness brand Joy 101. But before that, she had a memorable surprise appearance live, as shown by the TODAY show’s social media accounts (Facebook and Instagram) on Wednesday, May 28.

The behind-the-scenes clip showed that while Savannah and Craig were in the studio on-air, Hoda was outside the studio where the fans reside and hold signs. Hoda herself was holding a sign that said “I love Savannah + Craig.”

Craig was very tickled by Hoda’s appearance and sign. Savannah said in the video, “I was like, ‘Wait why is there a nice sign for us?’ Only you, Hoda, you’re our fan.”

Hoda surprised her co-workers during their show(Image: instagram/@todayshow)
She went on to say the rest of the signs are for Hoda’s return and they’ll catch up to her right after this break. The post was captioned with a laughing crying emoji and, “Number 1 fan! We’re catching up with @hodakotb this morning.” while the text on the video said: “Hoda surprise Savannah and Craig live on TODAY.”

During Hoda’s time on the TODAY show, she disclosed her daughter’s, Hope, Type 1 diabetes diagnosis. According to Cleveland Clinic, Type 1 diabetes is a “chronic (life-long) autoimmune disease that prevents your pancreas from making insulin.”

Hoda stated that Hope’s health “definitely weighed in” her decision to depart the show, but the primary reason was to spend more time with her daughters. Hoda has two daughters: Hope, 6 and Haley, 8. Hoda left TODAY in January after seven years as a co-anchor and almost three decades at NBC News.

“As anyone with a child who has Type 1 [knows], especially a little kid, you’re constantly watching, you’re constantly monitoring, you’re constantly checking, which is what I did all the time when I was [at TODAY]. You’re distracted,” the 60-year-old said.

She added that this gave her a “priority check” on life and she thought it was better to be there for Hope in the morning and night, feeling “relief” she can see and not at TODAY “sweating” about what’s happening.

“Hope is fine for most of the day. There are just moments where you have to watch her,” Hoda continued. “I was totaling it up — five minutes at breakfast, five minutes at lunch, five minutes at dinner, sometimes overnight. Add that up, that’s a half-hour. So for 23 and a half hours, she’s every other kid. So I try to remember that.”

This is the first time Hoda has revealed her daughter’s illness. In February 2023, she left the TODAY show for two weeks for a “family health matter.” Then she later revealed at the time that Hope was hospitalized with an unspecified illness.

Hoda left the show months ago(Image: TODAY)
Hoda also spoke about launching her new wellness brand, Joy 101. The brand includes an interactive app and a website. Hoda said that Joy 101 “is a community” and that “it’s a retreat in your pocket.”

The app will give those access to check-ins from Hoda; courses and live events from gurus such as NYU professor and bestselling author Suzy Welch; and a library of curated content from experts in breathwork, meditation, positive mindset, sleep, personal growth, and more.

The former TODAY anchor shared that the platform will host virtual “Hoda’s Happiness Hour” chats/meet-ups on the Joy 101 website. Hoda is planning on hosting a virtual event on June 11 with Savannah and Jenna Bush Hager where they’ll talk about “joy, friendship, and all the good stuff in between.” She also shared that Joy 101 is set to have a festival in spring 2026 called Joy Fest.

Lastly, Hoda additionally shut down rumors that she was replacing Kelly Clarkson as host on her own show. “Delete. Not true,” before continuing, “Do you think, if I ever came back to TV, do you know where the only place where I would ever come back to is? Right here!”