Hoda Kotb Nearly Breaks Down in Tears After Sandra Bullock Surprises Her With Rare Appearance

Hoda Kotb got the surprise of a lifetime when Sandra Bullock delivered a birthday message to the Today star via video.

“Hoda, Hoda Hoda, Hoda. I had so many brilliant and funny things prepared for you for this message that were just gonna slay, but you know, girl, I’m just too tired,” Sandra, 60, said in a video message for Hoda during a Monday, August 12, episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna.

It marked a rare appearance for Sandra, who has remained out of the public eye since the death of her partner, Bryan Randall, in August 2023.

“[I’m] tired because I had to make my way up that mountain before you got there so I could check out the terrain and see what things look like and, you know, just get the feel so I could fill you in,” the Blind Side actress added. “And it’s weird because people seem to want us to be afraid of what it might look like when we get there. It turns out, it’s pretty damn great. It’s pretty awesome.”

Parts of Sandra’s message were bleeped out as they were not suitable for television, but whatever the Oscar winner said, it certainly made Hoda laugh. “Everything is amazing because you have made it that way,” Sandra continued. “Thank you for being so incredible to so many people. What you do for a living and how you have to shapeshift every single day, how you navigate your kindness, even when that’s not what’s coming your way, how you are to those you care about and how you keep them safe, and just who you are as a human being. We’re all pretty lucky to have you, especially your kids.”

“So, happy birthday my sweet friend. Thank you for allowing me to be in your circle. I feel very grateful. And I have your bar set up, up here, so we can look at the view. It’s pretty beautiful, but I need you up here. Happy birthday!” she concluded.

The message was incredibly special to Hoda, who named Sandra as one of the biggest influences in her life. After seeing the movie star adopt kids Louis and Laila, Hoda was inspired to adopt daughters Haley and Hope, whom she is raising with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman.

“I’ve admired her, and she so shaped the pathway of my life,” Hoda said of Sandra during an interview with TODAY.com on July 9. “I feel like I adopted my kids because I saw that it was possible through her at our same age, and I realized, ‘Wow, it can be done.’”

Sandra mourned Bryan’s death privately with her children after revealing the photographer’s private three-year battle with ALS.

“She was devastated when he died and couldn’t imagine ever finding anyone she would love like that,” an insider told Closer in May.

“Bryan told Sandra his last wish was for her to find love again,” the source added. “He wanted to leave this world knowing she’d be loved and looked after by a good man.”