Hoda Kotb announced on Thursday that she will be leaving NBC's "Today" show in 2025. Kotb appears during the show at Rockefeller Plaza on Thursday, May 19, 2022, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File) Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

Hoda Kotb, a fixture at NBC for more than two decades, says she will leave her morning perch on the “Today” show early next year, telling staffers “it’s time.”

Hoda Kotb shocked Today viewers — and had her co-hosts in tears — when she emotionally announced on Thursday, September 26, that she was permanently exiting the morning show. "I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60,

Hoda Kotb announced she is leaving the "Today" show early in 2025 after more than five years co-anchoring the morning program. Kotb announced the decision in a letter that was shared with colleagues,

A fixture at the station for more than 26 years, Kotb announced her upcoming departure during Thursday’s episode of the show.

Her exit, planned for early next year, is a seismic shift for NBC and opens up a pair of morning TV’s most coveted anchor chairs.