Hoda Kotb he may be afraid of her Today chapter is coming to an end, but she’s excited about the prospect of starting a new chapter — in the wellness space, she announced on Friday (October 25).

During Today with Hoda and Jenna on Friday (October 25), Kotb shared her plans to venture into wellness after her first appearance on the air.

“What I want to do is work in wellness. I want to work in that space. I want to get things started. I have things seeping in,” the longtime host shared. “But I want you to come along for the ride, so we can all get better! Why not?”

Today shared the segment on X, captioning it, “Sometimes we need to slow down, take a deep breath and make space.”

Sometimes we need to slow down, take a deep breath and make room.

Hoda and Jenna get into self care and talk all things health today.

Sponsored by Miraval Resorts & Spas. pic.twitter.com/twtexIo2MX

— TODAY with Hoda and Jenna (@HodaAndJenna) October 25, 2024

Jenna Bush Hager applauded the move and shared how he received the difficult retirement news: “Even though my heart was broken, I understood. When you love someone as much as I love Hoda, I didn’t know she was going to leave, but I knew she was in her, in this dream.”

Kotb didn’t say whether he would launch a talk show, podcast or wellness-specific medium, but it was a rare signal of the direction he’s looking to take.

Earlier in the show, the 60-year-old also admitted on her general side about leaving: “Yeah, it’s scary. It’s terrifying. It’s all those things, but it’s also exactly right.” Kotb explained that “75 percent” has moved on, but the transition is difficult given that he still anchors the morning show.

However, Kotb — who was with Today for 26 years — said he decided to “fall in love” with the idea of ​​a fresh start.

“Every time I did a jump, a move, a jump — it was like, I’m falling in love,” she explained. “When I moved to this city, I fell in love. I’m going to fall in love with a place, a restaurant, a friend, I’m going to meet a lover.”

Kotb compared his new beginning to the “re-rooting” of a plant, where you are “pulled by your very roots, by your foundation, by everything that grounds you, and your roots are in the air.” She even wondered where she was “going to land” before amending, “so much of life is decision-making.”

She concluded: “When you love something, it’s hard to say goodbye because it doesn’t make sense, but there was something for me in recognizing a peak and saying in that peak, like, ‘I don’t feel like it exists. an opportunity that would make this better than it is today.’ Once that feeling hits you, it is. I don’t want to spend the rest of my days trying to recreate the top of the mountain. It was glorious. It was unforgettable.”

In a memo to employees last month, Kotb announced he would leave The Today Show in early 2025 to focus on her family. They replacement at the anchor office is unannounced.

“I’ve been weighing this decision for a while – Am I really ready? But the sixtieth anniversary celebration at the Plaza felt like a change. Like a massive, cheery YES, you are!” read the note. “I saw it all so clearly: my broadcasting career has been beyond meaningful, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mother need and deserve a bigger piece of my pie.” He also cried while reflecting on the decision during an episode of Today that month.

Kotb is the mother of two daughters, Haley Joy, seven, and Hope Catherine, four, both of whom she adopted.

The beloved anchor, who replaced Matt Lauer in 2018 alongside the co-anchor Savannah Guthrie (making the first all-female anchor desk in morning show history) was also facing significant pay cuts when she decided to gracefully exit.

According to an October 16 Variety aside, Kotb’s significant pay cut was estimated to put her in the $10 million – $15 million range per year (closer to Guthrie’s reported $8 million). As the publication wrote: “It was definitely Kotb’s call to go Todaybut the promise of having to absorb a substantial pay cut may well have accelerated her timeline.”