Hoda Kotb left the Today show earlier this year to spend more time with her young daughters but has made it clear both to her fans and her colleagues that she’s planning on sticking around her NBC family.
Along with still showing up for her Today co-hosts in person, Kotb has kept in touch in other ways with her colleagues, including someone else who once anchored the show—Katie Couric.
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Couric, who exited Today in 2006 and, after a stint at CBS Evening News, now hosts a podcast, Next Question with Katie Couric, recently told Us Weekly that she reached out to Kotb via text to wish her well.
“I’ve texted her a couple of times and told her I hope she was sleeping in,” she told the outlet on March 6.
Couric continued, noting that “If you do something too long, it starts to feel stale no matter how exciting the job may be. So I was excited for Hoda — having anchored the Today show for 15 years — to go and try new things and challenge herself and, you know, be in different venues. I’m really excited for her.”
Though Kotb’s replacement for anchor has been set in stone, with the veteran journalist passing the baton to Craig Melvin, her spot in the show’s fourth hour remains unfilled.
Kotb’s co-host for the segment formerly known as Hoda and Jenna, Jenna Bush Hager, has been joined by a rotating cast of guest hosts, from comedians like Heather McMahan to NBC personalities like Savannah Guthrie and Willie Geist.
Next: Craig Melvin Jokes He’ll Only Retire From ‘Today’ When They ‘Wheel Me Out of This Place’ (Exclusive)
