Here’s what the anchor said about 3-year-old Hope.
Hoda’s back!
The host made her return to TODAY on Monday after taking the past couple of weeks off to care for her 3-year-old daughter, she told viewers.
Kotb’s youngest child, Hope, was “in the ICU for a few days and then the hospital for a little more than a week,” the anchor said. “I’m so grateful she’s back home. I was waiting for the day to come. And we are watching her closely.”
Kotb later told Jenna Bush Hager that the experience was all “really scary,” but that Hope, whom the journalist adopted in 2019, is now back to her “vibrant and brilliant” self. Kotb also expressed just how much gratitude she had for her friends, family, the nurses and doctors at Weill Cornell who treated Hope, and for her colleagues that helped her through this difficult time.
“I’m grateful to friends like you, who were there every single day,” Kotb told co-host Savannah Guthrie as they held hands. “I want to say thank you for that. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” replied Guthrie, who had been out sick for part of last week after testing positive for Covid-19 on the air. She also returned to the desk Monday.
Kotb also told Hager that she was wearing a special piece of jewelry on Monday’s show. A friend gave her the pendant while Hope was sick.
“I’m wearing this little thing that a friend of mine sent to me, and she said, ‘I’m going to take it off my neck and I’m going to send it to you. It’s worn down because I rub it all the time, and it says, ‘God’s got this,’” Hold explained.
Before Monday’s broadcast, Kotb, 58, hadn’t been on the air live since Feb. 17, causing many of her fans to worry. Speculation about Kotb’s whereabouts began to intensify last week after Guthrie, 51, abruptly left the show, prompting TODAY to explain that Kotb’s brief hiatus was due to a “family health matter.”
After Kotb shared the news, viewers flooded her social media with supportive messages. “So happy to see your face,” one user wrote. “Praying for Hope’s continued recovery.”
“Miracles do happen,” another person posted. “Sending my love and continuing prayers.”
