Hoda Kotb Returns to “Today” After Her Daughter’s Hospitalization

Hoda Kotb returned to her anchor seat on the Today show on March 6 after a two-week absence, revealing to viewers that her 3-year-old daughter Hope was sick, but is now recovering.

“My youngest, Hope was in the ICU for a few days and in the hospital for a little more than a week,” Kotb said to viewers at the start of the show, a bit choked up. “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.”

Kotb said that she felt so much gratitude for the support she has received during that time, including from her cohost Savannah Guthrie, “I'm grateful for the doctors at Weill Cornell, who were amazing and the nurses,” Kotb said. “And I'm grateful for my family, and I’m grateful to friends like you who were there every single day. So I want to say thank you for that. I love you.”

The Today show first addressed Kotb’s absence on March 1, with an update stating that she’d been dealing with a “family health matter.” On Twitter, the show’s account wrote “Both @SavannahGuthrie and @HodaKotb are off today, with Savannah recovering from a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. As for Hoda, she is okay and handling a family health matter. We’re sending our love to them both and can’t wait to see them in the studio soon.”

Meanwhile, Guthrie tested positive for Covid on February 28, leaving the set within the first hour. Sheinelle Jones told viewers about her departure at 7:41 a.m., simply saying, “Willie joins us in for Savannah, who had to leave a little early this morning.” Jones later updated fans with: “By the way, it has been an interesting morning for us. As we said, Savannah left early; she wasn’t feeling great, so she took a Covid test. It came back positive. So, of course, as soon as we found out, she rushed home to rest up. So Savannah, we love you; wishing you a speedy recovery.”

Fans are sending support to Kotb via Instagram amid this news, where her latest post says “Once you choose hope, anything is possible.”

We are so glad that they are both back at the desk and that Hope is back home!

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