Hoda Kotb Returns To NBC’s ‘Today’ After Daughter’s Hospitalization

Co-host Hoda Kotb returned to NBC’s Today Monday morning, revealing that she’d been away from the show caring for her daughter, who had been seriously ill. “My youngest, Hope, was in the ICU for a few days and in the hospital for a little more than a week,” Kotb said. “I’m so grateful she’s home. She is back home. I was waiting for that day to come. And we are watching her closely. I’m just so happy.” Kotb did not describe the nature of her daughter’s illness.

Kotb last appeared on the show February 17, and had been away without explanation. NBC’s Craig Melvin addressed her absence last week, telling viewers “we know a lot of you have been asking how she’s doing. We can tell you, Hoda’s OK. She’s got a family health matter she’s been dealing with.”

Kotb was emotional describing her experience caring for her daughter, telling co-host Savannah Guthrie “you know what I realized too, Savannah? When your child is ill, the amount of gratitude you can have for people who helped you out.”

“I’m grateful for the doctors at Weill Cornell who were amazing and the nurses. And I’m grateful to my family, and I’m grateful to friends like you who were there every single day,” Kotb said. “So, I want to say thank you for that. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Savannah replied.

Guthrie herself was making a return to Today, having felt unwell during a broadcast on February 28 and then leaving the anchor desk during the show after she tested positive for Covid.

Guthrie’s decision to test for Covid after experiencing symptoms—and then exiting the show—led Megyn Kelly to ridicule Guthrie and NBC on her SiriusXM show, laughing as she said “do you believe they’re like canceling her, she’s running home from the set? Covid! I mean, at this point, seriously?” Covid has killed 79,000 New Yorkers since the start of the pandemic and 25,000 Americans since the start of the year.

Kelly, who briefly served as a co-host on Today during her failed stint at NBC, called Guthrie and NBC “leftists” who she said live “under the grip of Covid, terrified.” She added that “this is reportedly Savannah’s third bout of Covid, and I guarantee you she’s had all the vaccines and the boosters, because you won’t be able to go into 30 Rock without them,” referring to NBC’s New York City headquarters.