- Today show star Hoda Kotb posted a new Instagram video announcing when she will return from maternity leave.
- Kotb revealed that she will coming back September 3, right after Labor day. “You guys, I’m so excited,” she said in the video.
- Kotb also opened up about how appreciative she has been for her time away with her family.
Hoda Kotb recently shared an adorable series of photos with her boyfriend, Joel Schiffman, and two daughters, Haley Joy and Hope Catherine. The Today host is clearly loving every minute of maternity leave since the adoption of baby Hope in April, but it’s left fans wondering if they’ll ever see her come back on air.
But in a new Instagram video posted this morning, Kotb squashes the rumors with exciting new details about her return to the show. “Hi guys. Guess what? It’s time to get my roots done. I’m coming back to work. I’m gonna be there on September the 3rd right after Labor Day. You guys, I’m so excited,” she said in the video.
“Look, I’m not gonna lie, this probably has been the best summer of my entire life with these two kids,” she continued. “I’ve loved every second of it. But you know what else I’m gonna love? Coming back to you guys. So I am gettin’ ready. I’m setting my alarm, 3:15 a.m. OK? We’ll be back in business. I love you guys. I cannot wait to see you.”
“Literally BEST. NEWS. EVER!!!!! ❤️💕❤️” her co-anchor Savannah Guthrie wrote in the comments.
Fans were also over the moon and flooded the comments with support and best wishes for the rest of her summer. “Woo Hoo!!! So happy you had this time with your kiddos, but can’t wait to have ya back!,” one person wrote. “Thank God, I was afraid you weren’t coming back. I would truly understand,” another added.
Kotb also opened up to People about how appreciative she is for the time away with her children. “I know I come from a place of incredible fortune … and [have taken] a maternity leave that is longer than most people are allowed to take. I’m on-my-knees grateful for that, because it matters to me. It’s not something everybody can do,” she said.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am to go back, but at the same time I feel like I didn’t miss this moment,” she adds. “We all need to pay [our] bills and have insurance … we can’t take all the time we want. I get it. But I feel like if you can, and if you’re at a point where you feel like you can do it, you should do it. I’m sure every woman wants to do it and can’t. But if more women are taking the allotted time, then other women aren’t going to look at them funny.”
According to TODAY, Kotb says she can’t wait to be reunited with her work family, too. “I always knew how awesome our TODAY show family is, but you don’t really realize it until you step away for a minute and then you think to yourself, ‘Wow, I get to go back to that.’”
Until then, Kotb will likely soak in every last second of summer with her family—and make her return with exciting new projects, like her new book I Really Needed This Today, which she announced in early August on Instagram.
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Alisa Hrustic is the deputy editor at Prevention, where she leads the brand’s digital editorial strategy. She’s spent the last five years interviewing top medical experts, interpreting peer-reviewed studies, and reporting on health, nutrition, weight loss, and fitness trends for national brands like Women’s Health and Men’s Health. She spends most of her days diving into the latest wellness trends, writing and editing stories about health conditions, testing skincare products, and trying to understand the next greatest internet obsession.
