Hoda Kotb thinks Lester Holt should follow in her footsteps after his upcoming exit from NBC Nightly News.
“Lester! Hats off to a great run on @nbcnightlynews!” Kotb, 60, captioned pics of herself and her loved ones with Holt, 65, via Instagram on Tuesday, February 25. “Now all thats [sic] left is a move to the burbs … and a @toyota sienna mini van [sic]! Xx love you @lesterholtnbc. Xo.”
Kotb has been enjoying the suburban life herself since departing her longtime Today hosting gig last month. Kotb announced that she and her daughters Haley, 8, and Hope, 5, were moving outside of New York City back in March 2024. The family were all settled into their new house by the time Kotb took her kids back to school that September. (She cited wanting to spend more time with her girls, whom she shares with ex-fiancé Joel Schiffman, as one of the main reasons behind her Today exit.)
“I have a whole new town and a whole new school and all the new things,” Kotb gushed on a September 2024 episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna. “We went for our first day of school, I carried a coffee and I had sneakers [on], and I walked my kids to school like normal people. It was awesome.”
Hoda Kotb Signs New Deal for Special Interviews, Olympics After ‘Today’ Exit
One month later, Kotb shared how excited she was for her kids to experience Halloween in the suburbs. “We used to go trick-or-treating at CVS and the dry cleaners and [a nail salon],” she said on Hoda & Jenna. “My kids thought trick-or-treating was walking into a store and having the lady behind the counter put some [candy] in your bag. … Everywhere I look in our town, [there’s] those big spiderwebs, all the things.”
Kotb even concluded her final Today episode on January 10 by driving away from 30 Rockefeller Plaza with her kids in her minivan, with a “Just Repotted” sign strapped to the back.
While Craig Melvin took over Kotb’s coanchor role on Today, it has not been announced who will replace Holt on Nightly News. He announced he will be leaving the show after 15 years as host in a note to staffers on Monday, February 24.
“A smile comes to my face when I think that with Nightly News, and Dateline, I have now anchored two of the most successful and iconic television news programs in broadcast history,” his message read, per NBC News. “As a 20-year-old radio reporter on the police beat chasing breaking news around San Francisco, I could never have imagined my career path would unfold in the way it has. What an amazing ride.”
Following his Nightly News departure early this summer, Holt will continue his longtime role as an anchor on Dateline in a full-time capacity. Like Holt, Kotb will also remain in the NBC family as a special correspondent who will continue to make occasional Today appearances and cover the next two Olympics.
“I want to be a supporting character on a team that is already in place so that I’ll come in and just have a role there. And then I’m going to do my ‘Making Space’ podcast, which I enjoy and love so much,” Kotb told Page Six last month. “And for the Today show, I think we talked about doing something every four to six weeks, just a little something.” She also revealed she is in the “building process” of creating a wellness app and company.
