Hoda Kotb, the well-known former co-host of NBC’s “The Today Show,” has opened up about the personal reasons behind her decision to leave her long-time post earlier this year.
Returning to “Today” as a guest on Wednesday for the first time since her January departure, Kotb revealed that her younger daughter, 6-year-old Hope, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
Kotb, 60, shared that spending more time with both of her daughters, including 8-year-old Haley, was a major factor in her decision. She specifically told TODAY.com that Hope’s condition “definitely weighed in.”
“As anyone with a child who has Type 1, 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 explained. “You’re distracted.”
During the segment with co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin, Kotb expressed, “You just get a priority check in your life. 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.”
While emphasizing that she tries not to “put her worry” on Hope, and that her daughter is “fine for most of the day,” Kotb noted the crucial moments of vigilance.
“There are just moments where you have to watch her,” Kotb said. “I was totalling it up — five minutes at breakfast, five minutes at lunch, five minutes at dinner, sometimes overnight. Add that up, that’s a half-hour. So, for 23 ½ hours, she’s every other kid. So, I try to remember that.”
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