Hoda Kotb Announces She's Leaving Today After More Than 16 Years

Hoda Kotb is opening up about her new chapter.

After nearly two decades at the Today show, the longtime host has tearfully shared she's stepping away from the news desk. She shared the decision came to her after recently celebrating her birthday.

"I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new," she said through tears. "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."

Hoda, who is mom to daughters, Haley, 7, and Hope, 5, also went on to note that she's also pivoting to focus more on her family.

"Obviously I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have," she continued. "I feel like we only have a finite amount of time. And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world."

Starting in 2007 as a host of Today's first fourth-hour weekday morning, Hoda also reflected on her decades-long journey with the network in an emotional letter.

"My time at NBC has been the longest professional love affair of my life," she wrote in a note published by Today Sept. 26. "But only because you’ve been beside me on this twenty-six-year adventure. Looking back, the math is nuts. 26 years at NBC News — Ten years at Dateline, seven on the seven o’clock hour, sixteen on the ten o’clock hour."

"I’m picturing your faces and your families and all the ways you’ve lifted me up and inspired me," she continued. "That’s my heart singing. So many of my professional relationships have become some of my most cherished friendships."

As Hoda explained, though she's been thinking of the move "for a while," she realized she's truly ready for a change in her life.

"My sixtieth birthday celebration on the Plaza felt like a shift," she added. "Like a massive, joyful YES, you are! 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. I will miss you all desperately, but I’m ready and excited."