Hoda Kotb Returns to 'Today' Show, Shares the Scary Reason for 2-Week Absence
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
After being absent from the “Today” show since mid-February, host Hoda Kotb returned to the show March 6.
At the start of the show, she explained that her 3-year-old daughter, whose adoption Kotb had announced on the show in 2019, had taken ill.
“My youngest, Hope, was in the ICU for a few days and in the hospital for a little more than a week. 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 said.
“And you know what I realized, too, Savannah? It’s like, when your child is ill, the amount of gratitude you can have for people who helped you out,” she said.
NEW: Hoda Kotb returns to TODAY after handling her daughter’s health matter.
“I’m so grateful she’s home,” Hoda said. pic.twitter.com/z5f8herdyB
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 6, 2023
“So, 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.”
Kotb had last appeared on the show on Feb. 17. No mention of her absence was made on the show until March 1, when the show said Kotb was dealing with a “family health matter.”
The March 6 show was a reunion, with Guthrie having taken a few days away from the show after testing positive for COVID-19 on Feb. 28.
“Savannah left early, she wasn’t feeling great, so she took a COVID test,” host Sheinelle Jones said on the air that day. “It came back positive. So, as soon as we found out, she rushed home to rest up. So Savannah, we love you.”
it’s crazy to me that savannah guthrie was already back to work on the Today show this morning… she tested positive for covid less than a week ago
— Jen (@jenjenjennnnn) March 6, 2023
Later in the show, Kotb called her daughter’s illness “really scary,” according to “Today.”
“She is back home. I was waiting for that day to come. And we are watching her closely. I’m just so happy,” Hoda said. https://t.co/xe7YMjzUGR
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 6, 2023
“I’m over the moon that she’s home,” Kotb said. “And I can’t believe how amazing people are. Like, that’s the thing I learned through all this. The nurses who stood by her all the way, the nurses who checked on her constantly, the doctors who came in, the people who took care of us. And I felt like we were held.”
Kotb said the incident left her understanding what it means to be truly grateful.
Hoda got choked up while expressing how grateful she feels while talking with co-anchor 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,” she said. https://t.co/opMfCnkm1K pic.twitter.com/0ccBUOoFPD
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 6, 2023
“Sometimes, you talk about gratitude, and then when you’re pushed to the limit, you’re like, ‘Do I feel it?’” she said in a comment to Jenna Bush Hager.
“I feel blessed and grateful. Really, really, really grateful. And, also, anyone who’s ever gone through an illness with a child, boy, I thought I understood you, but I didn’t, until you’re sitting in that position,” she said.
Knob’s Instagram account carried a quote attributed to the late actor Christopher Reeve: “Once you choose hope, everything’s possible.”
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