EMOTIONS RUN HIGH As Hoda Kotb SHINES At Joy 101 And TODAY Show Crew REVEALS WHAT REALLY BINDS THEM TOGETHER

The TODAY gang showed up in numbers to support Hoda Kotb’s latest milestone.

Hoda announced her new wellness venture, Joy 101, on TODAY May 28 and hosted a launch party in New York City later that same night to celebrate.

The former co-anchor’s family, friends and colleagues from different chapters of her life showed up to support, including her morning show family who spoke to TODAY.com about marking Hoda’s joyous occasion.

“We all have these different endeavors and these different things that we do on the side — now this has become Hoda’s main thing,” Dylan Dreyer said of Joy 101. “It makes so much sense. She loves this world, she loves wellness, she shares this wealth of knowledge that she has when it comes to this with all of us, and now she gets to share it with everyone else.”

Dylan joked that she does “everything” Hoda tells her to do, as someone she leans on for support.

“She listens when you talk. Sometimes that’s the best advice, is just to have somebody there to listen in your life, acknowledge what you’re talking about. You know, you just want somebody near you sometimes, and she was always that person,” Dylan said.

Al Roker shared a similar sentiment: He explained that Hoda’s best advice is not “one thing,” but it’s who she is all the time that inspires him.

“It’s more like her presence and her example and that’s what I take from the most of,” he said.

As for Savannah, she said she misses Hoda as part of her “day to day,” but their “bond will always be there.”

“We used to spend every single morning together, rain or shine,” she added. “We would come in and we would have these moments before the show that weren’t about the news, they weren’t about the show, they were about us and, you know, our kids, our lives, our hopes, our dreams and that’s how this beautiful bond was formed.”

Craig Melvin spoke about Hoda’s return to Studio 1A earlier that day.

“When I saw her this morning before the show, it was as if we hadn’t missed a beat over the last few months,” Craig recalled.

When it comes to her warm, energetic spirit, Craig said, “That’s who she is when the red light turns off, too.”

Dylan made sure to catch Hoda in between moments of the show.

“I ran upstairs in my sweatpants for a hug, that’s all I wanted,” she said. “She wasn’t on the 3rd hour so I knew I had to catch her, and I just wanted one of Hoda’s hugs — they’re the best.”

So, did the TODAY family have any words of wisdom for Hoda as she embarked on her new adventure?

“She’s always led with her heart,” Roker said. “She’s always led from a good place. She’s exactly where she wants to be and needs to be. I don’t think she needs any advice from me.”

“She’s the one who should be giving advice,” Savannah added. “She’s an entrepreneur now, and she’s learned so much in such a short time, but she’s so brilliant and she’s such a voracious consumer of information, so she’s learned so much.”