Hoda Kotb, co-anchor of “Today,” returned to the NBC morning show on Monday after a brief break, revealing that her 3-year-old daughter had recently been hospitalized.
Hope, Kotb’s youngest kid, was in the critical care unit “for a few days and in the hospital for a little more than a week” after becoming ill, she said on the radio.
“Today,” co-anchor Craig Melvin told viewers last week that Kotb was dealing with “a family health problem” amid growing anxiety for the AWOL newscaster.
“I’m happy she’s home,” Kotb remarked Monday as she updated viewers on her daughter’s status. “She has returned home. I was looking forward to that day, and we are closely monitoring her. I’m overjoyed.”
Kotb hadn’t appeared live on “Today” since February 17th. For a time, the veteran broadcast journalist, mother, and breast cancer survivor fell silent, prompting fans to flood her social media pages with messages of love and support.
Savannah Guthrie, Kotb’s co-anchor, was also back in the studio Monday after leaving the show mid-broadcast last week and testing positive for COVID-19.
“What I realized, Savannah is the level of gratitude you can have for those who helped you out when your child is ill,” Kotb said Monday. “I’m grateful to the doctors and nurses at Weill Cornell [Medicine].”
“And I’m grateful to my family and people like you who were there every day. Therefore I’d like to express my gratitude. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Guthrie responded, wiping away Kotb’s tears. “You have many friends cheering you on and Hope.”
