Hoda Kotb is leaving NBC's 'Today' show early next year

NEW YORK (AP) — 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, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mom need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie.”

Kotb has co-anchored the first two hours of “Today” with Savannah Guthrie since 2018, filling in after Matt Lauer was fired amid sexual harassment allegations. She continued to co-host of the fourth hour of the morning show with Jenna Bush Hager, having previously hosted it alongside Kathie Lee Gifford. Kotb first joined NBC News as a correspondent for “Dateline” in 1998, and later joined “Today” in 2007.

Her daughters are Haley, 7, and Hope, 5.

Kotb was surrounded by her co-workers when she told viewers of her decision, saying, “This is the hardest thing in the world” and “I’ve been practicing so I wouldn’t cry, but anyway, I did.”

“We love you so much,” Guthrie, who has co-anchored “Today” with Kotb for more than five years, said with tears in her eyes. “And when you look around and see these tears, they’re love. You are so loved. We don’t want to imagine this place without you.”

Kotb's goodbye note mentioned many of her co-workers, like Al Roker: “Savannah: my rock. Jenna: my ride-or-die. Al: my longest friend at 30 Rock.”

“Happily and gratefully, I plan to remain a part of the NBC family, the longest work relationship I’ve been lucky enough to hold close to my heart. I’ll be around. How could I not? Family is family and you all will always be a part of mine,” she wrote.

“I’m actually excited for her,” said Imani M. Cheers, an associate professor of digital storytelling at the George Washington University. “I think it’s a huge loss, but I am so excited to see what she’s going to do next. I think it’s poignant. It comes a point in all of our lives: You do have to pivot.”

The move leaves two morning slots open for NBC as it tries to regain the top morning slot from ABC's “Good Morning America,” which features Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and Michael Strahan.

Cheers said Kotb had the ability to do hard news and soft, be welcoming but also no-nonsense, making her a hard person to replace.

“She was able to bring a brevity and just a bubbly light touch, but also could be someone that’s going to talk about very serious and heavy topics. She’s trusted. You feel that if she’s reporting that it’s going to be fair and it’s going to be balanced. And that is really hard to come by,” Cheers said.

FILE - Co-anchors Savannah Guthrie, left, and Hoda Kotb pose on set of the "Today" show at NBC Studios on Wednesday, June 27, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

This image released by NBC shows "Today" show co-host Hoda Kotb on the set in New York on June 12, 2024. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via AP)

This image released by NBC shows Hoda Kotb on the set of the "Today" show in New York on Feb. 29, 2024. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via AP)

This image released by NBC shows co-hosts Savannah Gutrhie, left, and Hoda Kotb on the set of the "Today" show in New York on June 10, 2024. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via AP)

FILE - Hoda Kotb appears on NBC's "Today" show at Rockefeller Plaza on Thursday, May 19, 2022, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

AL HENAKIYAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Ricky Brabec deliberately gave up his motorbike lead over Luciano Benavides in the Dakar Rally while Nasser Al-Attiyah was happy to cruise through another day closer to his sixth car title on Thursday.

Al-Attiyah started 346-kilometer stage 11 between Bisha north to Al Henakiyah with a 12-minute overall lead and let it drop to less than nine minutes over new second-placed driver Nani Roma in a Ford.

Al-Attiyah was content to let Dacia teammate Sébastien Loeb catch up and pass him to have a teammate nearby for any help and to minimize errors on the mazy, dirt track. Al-Attiyah was 17th, nearly 13 minutes behind stage winner Mattias Ekström, and said he needed to execute the same plan on Friday's last effective racing stage before the end on Saturday.

“If we lose two, three, four minutes no problem,” Al-Attiyah said. “We just need to finish this Dakar in first place.”

Honda cooked up a strategy in the Saudi desert for Adrien van Beveren to open the way and let Brabec catch up after the 190-kilometer pit stop and pick up time bonuses.

Brabec boosted his overall lead from 56 seconds to nearly four minutes just 25 kilometers from the finish. He was also within a minute of the stage lead but he slowed down so KTM rival Benavides was the new overall leader, but only by 23 seconds.

Brabec got his his wish to start Friday's stage 12 six minutes behind Benavides, so he can eye him. They head west to the rally starting point of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast on 311 kilometers of gravel, some river beds with a finish in the dunes.

“A little bit of strategy today and hopefully it pays off tomorrow,” Brabec said. "I feel like its going to be a good day. We’re going back into the rocks so it will be a little bit better for us.”

Brabec is counting on his experience of winning the Dakar in 2020 and 2024 to trump Benavides, who has a best placing of fourth last year.

“I've been in this situation before,” Brabec said. “For the whole two weeks I've been just trying to stay relax, stay comfortable and just be confident, so two days more. I'm gonna do the same thing tomorrow that I've been doing every day; ride dirt bikes and have fun.”

Van Beveren helped Brabec with navigation while fighting with another teammate, Skyler Howes, the entire day for the stage win.

Howes prevailed by 21 seconds for his first career major stage in his eighth Dakar. He was third in 2023 and sixth last year. He's running fifth, 34 minutes off the pace.

Benavides was fourth in the stage and believed the race will be decided on the final 105-kilometer sprint on Saturday.

“I played no strategy like Ricky. I don't care,” Benavides said. “I'm doing what I can to control what I can control.”

Ekström won his third car stage of this Dakar, a special so fast that 12 other drivers were within 10 minutes.

Ford achieved another 1-2-3 stage. Romain Dumas, a three-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, was a career-best second just over a minute back and Carlos Sainz was third.

Only Toyota's Henk Lategan beat Ekström to a checkpoint but Lategan's podium hopes were wrecked after 140 kilometers when a bearing broke on his rear left wheel. Lategan was second last year and second overall overnight but he plunged out of the top 15, at least.

Loeb moved up to third overall, 10 minutes behind Roma and three minutes ahead of Ekström.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Rider Daniel Sanders competes during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Fabian Lurquin compete during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Rider Skyler Howes competes during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Henk Lategan, left, and co-driver Brett Cummings repair their car during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Nani Roma and co-driver Alex Haro compete during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)