Hoda Kotb Gives Advice to the Host Replacing Her on ‘Today’: ‘Be 1,000 Percent Who You Are’

Hoda Kotb has got some great advice for the person set to replace her when she leaves Today early next year.

“Whoever’s interested in that seat, and it’s maybe the best seat in television, I think the best advice I have is to be 1,000 percent who you are, because that’s really the key,” the longtime broadcaster told People in an interview published on Wednesday, October 9.

“And the other thing, too, is sometimes to me, part of the magic is to be able to delight in the person sitting next to you,” Hoda, 60, added. “It’s such a small thing, but sometimes when you’re with someone, if you just let them shine. Give everyone a second, because who wants to be the person at the cocktail party who’s talking all the time?”

The NBC personality announced on September 26 that she was leaving Today after 17 years. Her cohosts were brought to tears as she broke the news to everyone watching the Today broadcast that day.

“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” she said at the time. “I remembered standing outside looking at these beautiful bunch of people with these gorgeous signs, and I thought, ‘This is what the top of the wave feels like for me.’ And I thought it can’t get better, and I decided that this is the right time for me to kind of move on.”

So far, no official replacement has been announced by NBC, however, there are some names floating around as to who might take over Hoda’s spot on the show. Of course, a lot went into the decision to step away from the program, including the desire to spend more time with her two daughters, Haley and Hope.

“I knew that I wanted this decade to be different. I looked at my time like a pie,” she told the outlet. “I was like, this is how much time I get, and now what am I going to do with it and how am I going to carve it up? And I wanted it to be filled with more of them.”

Hoda recently moved into a new home in the suburbs with her kids, whom she shares with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman. The reason for the big move was to allow the girls to experience a quiet life outside of the city.

“I want my kids to feel grass on their feet, and play in the yard, and ride bikes down the street, and run up and down the stairs,” the mom of two told People in August. “I just see that life for them in this perfect house in this beautiful little town where I know they’ll be able to blossom into beautiful, independent, strong women.”

She also dished on the important life lesson she learned after adopting her daughters.

“They’ve taught me that I’m good enough as I am, with all my flaws and everything that I bring,” Hoda said. “They’ve taught me that there’s humor in some sometimes some of the most challenging places. And they’ve taught me that I was always good enough to be a mom. And now I get to for the rest of my life.”