Hoda Kotb Named New Co-Anchor Of ‘TODAY’
TODAY's about to look a little bit different: Hoda Kotb, who has previously served as the show's 10 AM personality alongside Kathy Lee Gifford, is getting bumped up to permanent co-anchor alongside Savanna Guthrie. The move comes in light of the November firing of longtime anchor Matt Lauer, who was dismissed for alleged sexual misconduct.
“When you click with someone, man, woman, it doesn’t matter. If it works, it works,” Kotb told Peopleof Guthrie. “We’re sort of like sisters, and everybody wants a sister.”
Guthrie, herself, reflected on the morning she and Kotb were forced to deliver the uncomfortable news that Lauer had been let go, and said having Kotb beside her was a small consolation amid chaos.
“That morning was so hard, but Hoda and I were in it together,” Guthrie said. “We are family, and families do go through hard times, and when that happens in good families, you just get closer.”
“It was such a shock to wake up one day and not have Matt, but it was the most natural and comforting thing in the world to have Hoda right there," she added. "No one wanted that to stop."
Fans and followers are similarly excited by the news.
"Huge congrats, @hodakotb! Well-deserved," ABC News correspondent Gio Benitez tweeted, while another follower noted "Best decision NBC ever made. Congratulations Hoda! We are thrilled!"
Kotb and Guthrie are the first all-female team to anchor TODAY in its 65-year history.
Celebs Involved in Career-Ending Scandals: