{"id":37025,"date":"2025-09-01T18:28:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T18:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/37025\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T18:28:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T18:28:10","slug":"hoda-kotb-reveals-stark-reality-of-life-after-walking-away-from-today-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/37025\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoda Kotb reveals stark reality of life after walking away from Today show"},"content":{"rendered":"

By CYDNEY YEATES, US SENIOR TV WRITER<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 14:00 EDT, 1 September 2025 | Updated: 14:05 EDT, 1 September 2025 <\/p>\n

Hoda Kotb<\/a> has reflected on her decision to quit the Today show<\/a>, revealing the one private moment that confirmed she made the right decision.<\/p>\n

The mom-of-two \u2013 who shares daughters Hope and Haley with her ex-fianc\u00e9 Joel Schiffman \u2013 walked away from co-hosting duties in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with Kristen Welker for Meet the Moment, Hoda, 61, shared the moment that validated her exit.<\/p>\n

She said: ‘For 26 years I did similar things every single day. And one day, Kristen, in January I woke up and my alarm didn’t go off at 3.30am.<\/p>\n

‘I went downstairs to my office and Haley ran down and she looked at me and said at 5am, “You really are here.”<\/p>\n

‘And I think in that tiny moment I was like this decision was right on so many levels.’<\/p>\n

Hoda added that since leaving the Today show, she has been afforded time to ‘be a beginner again.’<\/p>\n

She explained: ‘I’m learning how to sleep again \u2013 I hadn’t done that in decades. I’m learning new skills, I’m learning how to be a mom whose there almost all of the time.’<\/p>\n

\"Hoda <\/p>\n

Hoda Kotb has reflected on her decision to quit the Today show<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The mom-of-two stepped down from hosting duties in January 2025 after\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hoda became a mother aged 52 when she adopted her first daughter Haley in 2017.<\/p>\n

She later adopted a second daughter, Hope, in 2019.<\/p>\n

Before her exit from the Today show, Hoda revealed the ‘painful’ decision was sparked by a seismic ‘shift’ in her life.<\/p>\n

She also noted that she wanted to spend more time with Hope and Haley.<\/p>\n

‘I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,’ she said.<\/p>\n

‘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,’ she added.<\/p>\n

‘I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.’<\/p>\n

In May, Hoda returned to the Today show where she revealed her daughter, Hope, had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes<\/a>, two years after she was rushed to hospital.<\/p>\n

\"Hoda <\/p>\n

Hoda is a mom to daughters Haley and Hope, whom she adopted with her ex-fianc\u00e9\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"In <\/p>\n

In a new interview, Hoda shared the moment she knew she made the right decision to quit the Today show<\/p>\n

She added that Hope’s condition ‘definitely weighed in’ on her exit from the program.<\/p>\n

‘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],’ she said.<\/p>\n

‘You’re distracted. You just get a priority check in your life.<\/p>\n

‘I can be here and sweating what’s happening to Hope in the morning and in the night, or I can be there and feel relief that I can see.’<\/p>\n

Hope’s health issues began over two years ago. In February 2023, Hoda took two weeks off from the Today show due to a ‘family health matter,’ she shared at the time.<\/p>\n

She later revealed that her youngest daughter had been hospitalized due to a sudden, unspecified illness.<\/p>\n

Hope, who was four at the time, spent several days in the intensive care unit and a little over a week in the hospital.<\/p>\n

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