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As Hoda Kotb’s time on Today comes to an end, Craig Melvin is gearing up for his gig as the morning show’s new co-anchor. Following Kotb’s exit, Melvin will be co-hosting the show alongside Savannah Guthrie.
When is Craig Melvin’s first episode of Today?
Melvin will officially start his new position on the Monday, January 13, episode of Today. Until then, he’ll be continuing his gig as co-anchor of the show’s third hour alongside Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones, and Dylan Dreyer.
In November 2024, it was announced that Melvin would be Kotb’s replacement. Guthrie shared the news herself while anchoring the talk show. “[He’s] talented, wonderful, hard-working, and the most worthy of this,” she gushed. “Let me just say, the larger staff found out this morning, and people broke into applause.”
The 45-year-old was there to help his colleague make the big announcement. “I’m beyond excited and grateful,” he said. “I want to thank NBC and the folks here who deemed me worthy. I’ve enjoyed a lifetime of blessings and this is the latest in a long line of blessings.”
Melvin has been working with the network since 2011.
When is Hoda Kotb’s last episode of Today?
Kotb will host her last episode of Today and Today With Hoda & Jenna — the Today show’s fourth hour —on Friday, January 10. Today with Hoda & Jenna will be filmed in front of a live audience for the special occasion, which has been branded a “HODA-bration.”
“There will be big surprises,” Jenna Bush Hager teased in December. “Lots of surprises that Hoda won’t even know about.” A message on the Today show’s official Instagram added, “The show will include big stars and lots of surprises that you won’t want to miss.”
No official replacement has been named for the fourth hour, which will be rebranded as Today With Jenna & Friends once Kotb leaves. Instead, Bush Hager will be joined by a rotating panel of celebrity co-hosts, including Keke Palmer, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Longoria, and Taraji P. Henson, with more to be announced at a later date.
Why is Hoda Kotb leaving Today?
In September, Kotb announced that she would be departing from the Today show to spend more time with her family. The proud mom shares two adopted daughters, Haley and Hope, with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman (the two recently sparked rumors that they’re back together after she was seen wearing a ring on her left hand).
“I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of the time pie that I have,” she explained. “I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.”
Kotb also said that turning 60 in August was a milestone moment for her and was part of the reason for her major career change. “I started thinking about that decade like, what does that decade mean? What does it hold? What’s it going to have for me?” she shared. “And I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and to try something new.”
During a subsequent interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she added, “When I turned 60, something weird happened, man. I turned 60 and we had this beautiful party at the Today show and I looked out at the sea of all the people who came and beautiful signs and so many well wishes. I knew in my heart like, ‘This is it, man.’ This is what the mountaintop must feel like. Like I’d never had that feeling before.”
