Hoda Kotb broke down in tears when Jason Segel made a touching comment about her upcoming departure from the Today show.
The veteran anchor, 60, announced in September that she will leave her role as Today co-host early next year.
DailyMail.com then reported that she was stepping down from work to spend more time with her young daughters, which she later confirmed publicly.
But the topic of her departure left her in tears during her Wednesday morning interview with How I Met Your Mother’s Jason, 44.
As they concluded their conversation, Jason told Hoda: ‘I’ll miss you when you’re gone. I just want you to know that these interviews have been some of the best of my entire career, so I’m very grateful to meet you.’
Hoda Kotb broke down in tears when Jason Segel made a touching comment about her upcoming departure from the Today show.
Hoda was visibly moved, whispering, ‘Wow,’ and placing a hand near her heart as her eyes filled with tears.
“Thank you,” she added breathily, giving Jason an affectionate pat on the leg and tapping her foot on the floor in an attempt to contain her emotions as she handed the show over to her co-host Savannah Guthrie.
The touching moment comes after Hoda revealed that she decided to leave Today when she reflected on how she wanted to spend her 60s.
He explained that his two daughters were the main reason he decided to leave his position because he wanted to spend more time with them, in a cover story for People magazine.
Hoda said she struggled with wanting to be with her children and being great at her job, but finding it difficult to juggle both.
She is the mother of two daughters, Haley Joy, seven, and Hope Catherine, four, whom she adopted.
‘There is that guilt that you carry because you can’t be 100% at work and 100% at home. Something has to give if you want excellence. “If you want to be excellent at work, something has to give at home.”
Hoda continued: ‘And if you want to be great at home, I mean great, and do all the things, something has to give at work. It can’t be the same.’
The topic of her departure left her in tears during her Wednesday morning interview with Jason, 44, of How I Met Your Mother fame.
As they concluded their conversation, Jason told Hoda, “I’ll miss you when you’re gone,” adding that he was “really grateful to meet you.”
Hoda was visibly moved and surprised, she whispered, ‘Wow’ and placed a hand near her heart as her eyes began to swim with tears.
“Thank you,” he added breathily, giving Jason an affectionate pat on the leg and tapping one foot on the floor in an attempt to contain his emotions.
‘I knew I wanted this decade to be different. I looked at my time like a pie. I thought: this is the time I have and now, what am I going to do with it and how am I going to divide it? Hoda said.
Adding: “And I wanted it to be filled with more of them.”
Hoda announced she was leaving the Today show in an announcement on September 26, after 17 years as co-host of the 10 a.m. Today show and 25 years at NBC.
He will leave his position at the beginning of 2025.
The star said he started thinking about what he wanted to do next in life after turning 60, wondering what it would be like.
Hoda is the mother of two daughters, Haley Joy, seven, and Hope Catherine, four, whom she adopted.
‘I like adventure, I like new beginnings. I’m a sunrise and not a sunset person, and I was wondering: what’s it like for me?’
One of the things Hoda looks forward to is taking her daughters to school.
The hostess said she had to get up at 3:30 a.m. every day, including weekends, to work, which means she got tired by 9 p.m.
“I’m not going to continue playing against the clock all the time,” he said.
Hoda and her daughters moved from the Upper West Side in Manhattan and now live in a house in Westchester, where the star says she has a swing set and a garden.
Hoda’s youngest daughter, Hope, had a medical crisis in February 2023, which she chose not to reveal, which also led to her decision to take them out of town.
‘We are in a place where hope is thriving. “She is improving, we are watching her and I think that as time goes by we will handle it better, but we are already seeing big differences,” he told the outlet.
‘We have really excellent care, I have people who are helping us. “I feel like he’s finding a firm footing,” he added.