Gifford, 71, began sharing hosting duties of Today ’s fourth hour time slot with Kotb, 60, in 2008. She left Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda in 2019, though she has made reappearances on the show. In the wake of Kotb’s Thursday, Sept. 26, career change revelation, Gifford posted a sweet message about her friend on X, formerly Twitter.

Hoda Kotb, a fixture at NBC for more than two decades, says she will leave her morning perch on the “Today” show early next year, telling staffers “it’s time.” In a memo to her team — and later in an emotional on-air reveal Thursday — Kotb said her 60th birthday this summer helped trigger the departure: “I saw it all so clearly: my broadcast career has been beyond meaningful,