The “Today” program revealed, on Wednesday, that Hoda Kotb has been absent from her post for more than a week due to “a matter of family health.”
Fellow journalist Craig Melvin explained, “We can tell you Hoda had a family health issue that she was dealing with.
“We look forward to seeing Hoda and Savannah [Guthrie] Back on the desk,” he continued, referring to Guthrie’s recent COVID-19 diagnosis.
Qutb has not yet addressed the situation.
Thousands of fans have expressed concern for the 58-year-old after her absence from “Today” and “Today with Hoda and Jenna” since February 17.
Her Today Channel podcast “Making Space” — which usually airs episodes every Monday — hasn’t released a new episode since Feb. 20.
Kotb’s Instagram page also garnered 2.2 million followers after her page went from posts about her family and job to inspirational quotes.
“choose hope” Graph from Monday morning readingwhile another said, “Sometimes miracles are just good people with good hearts.”
she also Four other statements were shared About being “brave” and “strong” amidst “dark clouds”.
Hundreds of fans commented on each post wishing her well and saying how much they missed having her on the NBC morning shows.
In the midst of Kotb’s absence, “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie had to unexpectedly flee the set in the middle of the broadcast on Tuesday morning.
Guthrie began hosting the morning show at 7 a.m. but did not return after her commercial break half an hour later.
Shenelle Jones — who originally co-hosted Today 3rd Hour but has been working on Kotb — revealed that Guthrie, 51, has been “taken home” after testing positive for COVID-19.
“Savannah, we love you. Have a speedy recovery,” Jones, 44, said.
NBC has not publicly shared when Guthrie will be able to return nor who will take both her and Kotb’s lead slots on the “Today” show.
“World News Tonight” show Tom Lamas, Today 3rd Hour hosts Craig Melvin and Carson Daly, and the Al Roker show were all helping out on the “Today” show.
Willie Guest and Jones have both been moguls for the past week alongside Jenna Bush Hager.
Kotb is the mom of two daughters — Haley Joy, 5, and Hope Katherine, 3 — who she co-parents with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman.
Although the two called off their engagement in December 2021, she flowed to the people About creating a “healthy mix” with “Great Daddy” in August the following year.
“He’ll have a Saturday, and I’ll have a Sunday. We move in every week,” she explained at the time. “He’ll take girls and do some fun stuff, and I’ll have some quiet time.”
On how the youngsters deal with the shift, Kotb said, “They love it.”
“Travel geek. Incurable music expert. Food maven. Troublemaker. Lifelong student. Avid tv junkie.”