Hoda Kotb’s ‘Today’ Cohosts Welcome Her Back After Maternity Leave: ‘We Missed You!’
She’s back! Even though Hoda Kotb was scheduled to return to the Today show on Tuesday, September 3, after taking maternity leave, her NBC costars couldn’t help but put together a video that showed just how much they missed her.
“The thing I missed the most about Hoda is our talks in the makeup room,” Savannah Guthrie revealed. “Hoda and I are there every single morning pouring our hearts out to each other and it’s my favorite moment of the day.”
In the heartwarming clip, Savannah looked very lonely sitting in their makeup room alone. “I miss her. I’m all alone,” she said. “It’s just not the same around here without Hoda!” And Al Roker feels the exact same way.
“I miss my good friend so much. I miss the times we’ve had,” he admitted while playing around with a cardboard cut-out of his longtime colleague. “I miss our routine.” Sadly, Al’s life-sized cut-out just couldn’t take the place of the real Hoda. “You know, this Hoda just seems a little flat,” he joked before Craig Melvin started to dance with the toy. But now that Hoda is back on the show, everything can go back to the way that it used to be.
“It’s great to have you back. We missed you, tremendously!” Craig gushed about his costar, and Carson Daly added, “We’re very excited to have you home because that’s what this is. It’s our home, so welcome home.” Savannah and Al also had a few more words to say about the new mom of two.
“Welcome back, Hoda! It hasn’t been the same without you,” Savannah gushed, and Al added, “Hoda, it is so good having you back! We missed you and now life is complete.”
After seeing the video, Hoda almost broke out into tears. “I can’t believe you guys did that piece,” she said. “Thank you guys so much. That meant the world!”
It’s great to have you back, Hoda!
